


The Emperor's Jewel

by cbtothekk



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Akakuro - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Serial Killers, Angst, Aomine and Kuroko are roommates, Awkard Akashi Seijuurou, Blood and Gore, Cussing, Detective Kuroko, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Gore, Graphic Description, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Love Bites, M/M, Minor Character Death, Obsession, Oreshi and Bokushi, Panic Attacks, Possessive Akashi Seijuurou, Possessive Behavior, Serial killer Akashi, Stalking, This will be dark, Twisted and Fluffy Feelings, Unhealthy Relationships, Violence, Yandere Akashi Seijuurou
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-07
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-01-06 18:39:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 15
Words: 39,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12216624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cbtothekk/pseuds/cbtothekk
Summary: All Kuroko Tetsuya wants to do is avenge his parents by capturing their murderers with his friends by his side. But that's not so easy when the infamous serial killer the 'Emperor' has taken a like to him. Who knows what he'll do to make poor Tetsuya his.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Your love is a menace](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5545325) by [Unseeliesidh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unseeliesidh/pseuds/Unseeliesidh). 



> Hey!! I've completely re-edited this fic, and deleted a lot of parts. I will be deleting all of the chapters and re-uploading the new ones daily.
> 
> I recommend re-reading, but it is not necessary, as some plot points remain the same (if you squint). Though, I will say that there are some more juicy parts ;) No smut yet, but I am writing drafts of that rn ;;))  
> Please enjoy the basically re-written fic!

 “Aomine-kun. Please stop worrying about me. I’ll be fine.” Kuroko sighed, frustrated as his taller companion continued to rummage through his leather messenger bag.

“But Tetsu,” the tanned male whined. “As your roommate and best friend, I have an unspoken duty to make sure you have everything you’ll need for today. What if you forget your lunch, huh? How embarrassing, the new guy forgot his lunch.” Aomine had a teasing nature and after being friends with him for so long, Kuroko was used to it.

Kuroko sighed for the umpteenth time that morning. Feeling exhausted already from Aomine’s motherly habits, he decided to sit down.

The day was exciting, it was the first day of Kuroko’s new job.

Ever since Kuroko was small, he had wanted to be a kindergarten teacher. He had always loved children. His mother was always supportive of his choices, as was his father. All they had wanted was for Tetsuya to be happy. That dream changed one day.

The day when Kuroko had come home from school, only to find his parents remains scattered around the family living room.

The blood. The blood was the most vivid memory. It was everywhere, staining the walls crimson. To the current day, Kuroko couldn’t forget the pungent metallic smell that accompanied the memory. His family’s living room—tainted with gore. The carpet had made spongy sounds as his small frame trudged through the scene, his voice stuck in his throat. His mother’s face was almost unrecognisable. She was so pale. Her lips blue and her once sparkling sapphire eyes now dead and lifeless. Her once silky pale blue hair, now brown, stained with her own life force. Bruised limbs were tied behind her back with her dress’ belt, said dress was ripped and mutilated, spread across the floor. Bruises littered her thighs and hips, hand-shaped prints. His father lay facing the scene, his mouth lay open prepared to let loose words he hadn’t gotten the chance to say. Arms and legs, tied up in tight knots. Hollow eyes seemed to penetrate through Kuroko’s very being. The eyes didn’t move, but they were watching his every move.

“Mother… Father…” He had remembered saying, voice broken in disbelief.

Overwhelmed with the picture before him, Kuroko had vomited. His legs had given way at some point, he knelt in the mess. He was hyperventilating, the young child wondering why his parents wouldn’t answer him. When the smell hit him, filling his lungs full of rotten air, he gagged. He remembers how fast his heart was beating, and how difficult it was to ignore the rancid smell as he tried to prevent bile rising to his throat once again. His memory of what happened immediately after was foggy.

Apparently, the police were called when Kuroko’s grandmother discovered the scene.

Kuroko remembered waking up, unsure of where he was, or how much time had passed. He was confused at the sterile smell of disinfectant that was _not_ the homey smell of his family home.

Years later, after he understood what had really happened that day, he decided he wanted to become a police officer, and put criminals away before they were able to tear a family apart. He wanted others to be more fortunate than he had been.

Tetsuya didn’t want his friends to pity him by telling them the horrendous story of how his parents had left the world, so he always avoided the subject. Tetsuya was eleven when they were murdered. He lived with his grandmother until he was nineteen, then moved into an apartment with Aomine, his current best friend. Kuroko was now twenty-five.

 

-

 

Aomine, who was already employed at the same precinct as Kuroko, decided that since they were going to be working together, that they should carpool to work together. Much to Kuroko’s displeasure…

 You see, Aomine was never a great singer, Kuroko could deal that. But, he always insisted on singing bad renditions of popular American pop songs. Often with the wrong lyrics and incorrect pronunciation. Those two paired together not only gave Kuroko a headache before 9am, but also encouraged him to become a day drinker.

“I’m in love with your shampoo, we push and pull like a magnum doong.”

Kuroko cringed, “Aomine-kun, those are not the lyrics. Its ‘I’m in love with the shape of you’, and I’m honestly not sure what you were going for after that…”

For the next few minutes Aomine grumbled angrily to himself, albeit embarrassedly. Kuroko adjusted the black frame of his glasses to sit more comfortably on his face and decided to tune Aomine’s mumblings out by turning the volume for the radio louder. Kuroko liked to listen to more news orientated stations, rather than music as to keep up with what was going on in the world, so he changed it to his favoured news channel.

 **_“BREAKING NEWS_ ** _!! Serial killer the Emperor has struck again. A young woman was found in an alleyway early this morning. The signature crown was also carved into the victim’s skin. Police are still having trouble identifying her. This is the Emperor’s first casualty this month and is also the first victim taken from Tokyo, which has caused an uproar of fear in citizen’s hearts. Cause of death is unknown at this momen,t but more information will be available wh-”_

Aomine haphazardly silenced the radio, his face showing his upset.

“Aomine-kun, is something the matter?” he asked timidly. Aomine was silent for a few moments before he heaved a long sigh and spoke up.

“My squad and I have been assigned to catching the Emperor, but that was weeks ago. So, hearing that they’ve struck again really pisses me off.” Another sigh.

Hearing that Aomine had been working on the Emperor case took Kuroko by surprise. He could understand the secret; many investigators had been taken by the Emperor in their attempt to arrest him. It was one of the most dangerous cases that the police in Japan had ever encountered. Aomine didn’t want to worry Kuroko, so he kept the information a secret, that was understandable.

Kuroko lifted one of the corners of his lips into a small smile to reassure Aomine that he wasn’t upset. Though, internally, Kuroko was very worried about his roommate and best friend’s safety.

 

-

 

The engine cut off and both boys simultaneously opened their car doors and made their way to the entrance of the police station. Kuroko’s hands were shaking as he clutched his messenger bag closer to his person.

It was a large structure with multiple buildings, all different in purpose. To the left as he walked in, through an open doorway there were rows upon rows of desks with computers with updated technology. Detectives and officers of all sorts sat at their desks sorting through paperwork and files. Some looked very determined to research whatever they were assigned to on their computers, frantically jotting down information and transferring it neatly into crisp new manila folders. There was a high ceiling painted a dirty cream colour the same as the walls, the floors were Persian white marble tiles that made a distinct ‘click’ noise as the workers walked upon it in their dress shoes.

Kuroko followed Aomine like a lost puppy past the doorway, straight ahead towards a reception desk. Tetsuya decided to stay quiet while Aomine-kun sorted out his information. It seemed that Aomine knew what he was doing. It made sense, he had already worked at the precinct for nearly a year.

The lady sitting behind a desk labelled ‘reception’ forced a polite smile at the two as she directed them to their right, in the direction of two large, brown mahogany doors.

Aomine knocked firmly on the right door three times, pushing the door open without waiting for an answer. The two were face to face with a tall man only a slightly shorter than Aomine. Kuroko almost thought that this would be his new boss, until he took in the surprised and unprofessional look on his face. The man had two toned red and black hair that looked like it hadn’t been brushed in a week, and the white button up shirt he wore was filled with creases (and was that a sauce stain?) matched his poorly tied tie. His suit jacket was tossed over his shoulder, crumpled and un-ironed. Though his attire was atrocious, Kuroko couldn’t ignore his aura seemed wild like the intensity of a tiger. He must have done well on the physical exam. Kuroko looked the man up and down. Kuroko concluded that this person was probably another new employee.

The man didn’t notice Kuroko, which happened too often for Kuroko to take offense to anymore. But, when the man noticed at Aomine, he positively beamed. The area around him went from menacing to sunshine and rainbows in seconds. The man blushed and threw his arms around Aomine.

Kuroko was amused. This was the person Aomine had been seeing, they were close. Kuroko approved. They seemed to be in their own world, so he left them be. He walked over to the large desk in the middle of the room and found two badges resting side-by-side. One read his own name and the other was of Aomine’s supposed lover. The name read ‘Kagami Taiga’. Ah, now that name was familiar, it was the name that haunted Kuroko’s nightmares. They were so loud at night, Kuroko shuddered.

He picked up his badge, attached it to the lanyard provided and hung it around his neck. Turning around swiftly to spy on the pair, he sighed. He decided it was probably time for them to move on, Kuroko didn’t want to be late To work on his first day.

He stared into Aomine’s eyes until they connected with his own, Aomine’s eyes widened. He pushed Kagami away from himself with a grunt and a ‘get the fuck off me you cow’ then stood up, brushing the dirt off his pants.

Kagami was unaffected by Aomine’s brash language, throwing playful insults back at him. “So Tetsu, this is Kagami. Um… Kagami Taiga, and uh… Taiga, this is Kuroko Tetsuya, my roommate who I told you about…” Aomine stuttered in a grumpy albeit fond tone

Meanwhile Kagami was horrified, he hadn’t realised there was another person in the room. He shrieked loudly, waving his hands in a frenzied manner upon seeing the blue haired stranger standing not two feet in front of the pair. He turned around again to face his Aomine, before launching himself into his arms in fear. Aomine laughed heartily.

“How long have you been there?” Kagami whined, his deep voice slightly muffled by Aomine’s suit jacket.

“I have been here the whole time.”

Aomine looked content with the man in his arms.

Kuroko was pleased that his friend had found someone who he looked at like _that_.

“Aomine-kun, I think it’s safe to assume you and Kagami-san are dating, right? That would explain where all those hickeys and noises late at night came from. You did tell me you were seeing someone, but I didn’t expect to see them so soon.”

“Oh my god.”

“And there’ll be plenty more of those late nights, huh Taiga?” Aomine nudged Kagami with his elbow, a suggestive smirk on his face.

The redhead pushed away from his perverted boyfriend, blushing profusely he gave Aomine a sharp smack to the back of his head. “Not with that attitude, you pervert.”

Aomine tenderly rubbed the back of his head , still managing to look like he was on cloud nine in Kagami’s presence, giving a sharp laugh at Kagami’s flustered face. Kagami gave a quick nod towards Kuroko and bowed slightly in greeting.

“Please ignore what he said. It’s nice to meet you, and yeah, we’re dating. Just call me Kagami though, I’m not into all that formal stuff.”

Kuroko tilted his head forward.

“Kagami-kun it is.”

Kagami gave a shy smile in response.

After Kuroko’s meeting with Aomine’s boyfriend, he learned that he was also assigned to be partners with Kagami-kun. The two newly acquainted partners were shown to their desks, apparently, they were to be in the section labelled ‘Seirin’. Their department was in a different room to the others. It was in a smaller room with more natural lighting. The desks seemed to be newer and of better quality too. As the boys were directed into the area by a timid boy named Furihata, another new detective. Kuroko breathed in the pungent intrusion of odour he recognised as some sort of citrus disinfectant. The room was very clean, he noted. Furihata made a beeline towards the front of the Seirin room where a desk larger than the rest of the desks sat. It was surrounded by filing cabinets and loose papers. It was by far the messiest part of the room, maybe even the whole facility!

Kuroko glanced up to his right where Kagami walked, he obviously wasn’t as repulsed by the messy cabinets as Kuroko was. Kuroko wasn’t surprised as he gazed down at his partners dishevelled outfit.

A woman sat at the larger desk watching their every move with a calculating gaze. She seemed to be contemplating Kagami and Furihata intensely, she cringed at Kagami’s messy attire. However, she did not spare Kuroko one glance. He sighed, it was to be expected. The lady introduced herself their squad leader and chief. Her name was Aida Riko. Riko had brown hair styled into a pixie cut that reached her ears that was pinned out of her face. She was dressed in a white blouse with a black blazer and a black knee length business skirt. Riko didn’t look like much but Tetsuya was very observant, the underlying tone in her eyes was one of discipline, determination and power. Aida Riko was one to not be easily intimidated.  

Riko spared a glance to the rest of the room. Probably searching for him, Kuroko deduced, and he was correct when Riko stood and spoke for the first time.

“Hmm, interesting. I assume that you two are our new officers of the Seirin squad. Kagami-san and Furihata-san, welcome. However, I must say that it is a pity that your other co-worker, Kuroko-san, hasn’t arrived. Perhaps he decided that the officer life wasn’t for him. I detest people who give up so easily. If you will not devote your all to this job you shall find yourself fired before you even set out on your first case, do I make myself clear?” Her high heels clicked into the deafening silence as she calmly paced in front of them.

Furihata was sweating through his dress shirt by the end of Riko-Senpai’s speech and Kagami was the very definition of determined. Both boys nodded seriously, Furihata’s more frantic than Kagami’s.

“Yes ma’am!” The two announced in unison.

Kuroko decided that now was the best time to announce his presence to his boss.

“Uh, hello I am Kuroko… I am here and have not given up. I shall do my best.”

“…”

A shrill scream sounded throughout the precinct.

“How long have you been there?!” Riko shouted in surprise, eyes wide frantically scanning his being.

“I’ve been here the whole time.”

Riko straightened up her jacket, composing herself. She allowed herself to look Kuroko up and down, analysing his body visually. ‘ _He seems so weak and average compared to the rest of the newbies! There’s no way he is qualified for this job… Well, he did get the best scores on the theoretical examination. But how am I supposed to let him out into the field like this? I can’t even see any potential in him.’_

Riko decided to see how he went. Maybe he’d be better at analysing and coming up with game plans than participating in situations.

“Oh! They’ve arrived. My name is Hyuuga Junpei, I’m Riko’s personal assistant.” A man said as he walked into the room. “How’re they looking?” he asked.

Riko smiled, leaning in to whisper to Hyuuga, “We’ve got two average ones, and one super powerful one! I reckon that Kagami-kun is equally matched with Aomine from squad Touou!”

Kagami frowned in confusion, having heard the conversation. While he was proud that he could he was comparable to Aomine, he was unsure of how Riko came to that conclusion without comparing the two next to each other. “Why do you think I’m as good as Aomine?” he asked.

Hyuuga laughed, going on to inform the new recruits of Riko’s special talent.

“Your squad leader here has a sort of special ability. After one look at someone she is able to determine their physical capabilities. Her father is a personal trainer, and she spent her childhood gazing at athletes and learning all she knows from her father,” he spoke proudly.

Riko nodded along with Hyuuga’s speech.

“That’s impressive squad leader!” Furihata shouted.

Riko sent Hyuuga to show the new recruits their desks and squad area, also informing them of what exactly their job there would be. They were the newbie that meant there wasn’t any investigating or field detective work to be done for quite some time. For now, they would be settling in and doing simple work like filing and training. Kuroko was left to sort out the colour coded files that Hyuuga pointed out to him. They were buried in the disarray that was Riko’s desk. He was to place them in their corresponding compartments in the filing cabinets. A monotonous task but it was only his first day, and the faster he got the tedious jobs over and done with, the faster he could get to the important jobs. Kuroko placed his messenger bag down in his desk, starting his search for all the filed beginning with ‘A’. He sighed, this would take a while.

 

-

 

Hours later and Kuroko had only finished the filing up to ‘C’, but it was quitting time.

Aomine was waiting for Kuroko in front of the reception desk at the end of their work day. They walked in silence until they reached the car. He ignited the car’s engine while Kuroko sat in the passenger seat. Kuroko had the sudden want to have a vanilla latte, so he requested to be dropped off near his favourite coffee shop on the way home.

Aomine sped off down the road as soon as Kuroko shut the car door.

Kuroko heaved his messenger bag higher up on his shoulder and shoved his cold hands into the warm pockets of his large black coat that swamped his lithe form, before wandering across the road towards the familiarity of The Giant’s Café. As Kuroko shouldered the heavy glass door open he was hit with a wave of warmth and vanilla. A fantastic upgrade from the cold afternoon wind.

“Ah Kuro-chin. You haven’t been here in a while, your usual?” greeted Kuroko’s long-time friend, Murasakibara.

“Yes please, and I have been busy preparing for my new job, Murasakibara-kun, you know that.” Kuroko said deadpan as usual, while taking off his coat and hanging it on the coat-rack by the door.

Murasakibara and Kuroko had been friends since middle school when Kuroko shared his vanilla candy with Murasakibara on a rainy lunchtime inside the classroom. Murasakibara had quickly grown attached to Kuroko.

He hadn’t changed much since middle school, with the only differences being his now shoulder-length purple hair, and that he’d grown a lot more. He was the tallest person Kuroko had ever met.

Murasakibara had always like sweets, so he chose to open a café-bakery. It had the best vanilla tea, coffee and cupcakes that Kuroko had ever tasted, but that might be because he stayed up all night with Murasakibara and his barista one night taste testing all the vanilla sweets that he made for Kuroko and perfecting all the vanillafied goodies to his own high standard.

Himuro was Murasakibara’s best friend and barista. Himuro was a head shorter than Murasakibara and had silky black hair parted down to the left. Raven hair covered his whole left eye down to the bottom of his cheek, leaving his right eye and beauty spot on show. Both boys wore casual clothing with a navy-blue apron over their clothes. Himuro was wearing a lot of black, compared to Murasakibara’s abundance of purple accessories such as a purple phone, t-shirt and sneakers.

Kuroko paid his fee, then made his way to the corner back table by the window which faced the rest of the café so that he could see everyone discreetly without them noticing, not that they would what with Kuroko’s lack of a presence.

 The boys behind the counter prepared Kuroko’s usual order that consisted of a vanilla tea and a croissant. Himuro brought his vanilla tea to him with a polite smile and a nod of his head. Kuroko returned the nod with his deadpan face.

Murasakibara stopped by not long after, dropping off Kuroko’s croissant. He didn’t leave without giving his favourite blue-haired friend a soft pat on the head. Kuroko showed his irritation with the action, shoving Murasakibara away roughly (much to his amusement). Murasakibara left him by himself to continue helping behind the counter, he knew Kuroko would rather people watch the other customers than participate in idle chit chat.

The café was always a bit busy, however today it seemed that everyone wanted a hot drink to help with the crisp chill of the afternoon.

Kuroko buried his hand into his messenger bag to search for the light novel Mayuzumi had lent him, Kuroko didn’t usually read fiction of this sort… Kuroko wasn’t usually interested in anything manga or anime related, but after Mayuzumi had ranted about how ‘life-changing’ this novel was, he gave in and promised to read it and give his thoughts about it.

“Ah, found it.” He opened the novel to, beginning to read the story.

Two vanilla tea’s later he was getting to the climax of the story. It was actually quite interesting, and he could see the appeal and the clichés were not as abundant as Kuroko had assumed they would be. Tomoko-Chan was just about to confess her love to her senpai when Kuroko was pulled from the novel. Someone had sat at the table in which Kuroko occupied, clearing his throat in an attempt to gain his attention.

Kuroko looked up in surprise to see a guy who looked about the same age as himself. With chestnut hair and hazel eyes, a boyish and a cheery face. He looked like the type to vomit rainbows.

“Hey! Is this seat taken?”

“It seems it isn’t.” It was time to get serious, there was a cute boy here _AND_ he noticed him. The glasses were coming off.

Having not been rejected the stranger leant forward, bowing down at respectable angle. When he sat up again he had the most flirtatious smirk Kuroko had ever seen directed straight at him.

“Hey, the name’s Ogiwara! I saw you sitting here all by yourself, and I couldn’t help but notice your lips looked lonely… Would they like to meet mine?”

Wow someone noticed him and decided to flirt with him all in one day. It was a miracle. Was he dead?

Kuroko gave no outward reaction albeit the slight amusement in his eyes. Ogiwara noticed this and continued.

“Wow, those your real eyes? Because they’re a gorgeous blue just like the ocean. And baby… I’m lost at sea.”

And so, the pick-up lines continued. In the end Kuroko caved in to the clumsy yet endearing boy’s advances, exchanging phone numbers with a promise to set up a date. And if Kuroko named his contact ‘clumsy café guy’, well… no one needed to know about that.

Kuroko left the café that night with a cheery feeling. As he stepped into the night he pulled his coat tighter. Ogiwara said he had wanted to walk him home, but the night was too chilly to be out so late. Ogiwara called a taxi for Kuroko, ever the gentleman. He stepped into the cab but not without a sneaky peck on the cheek from Ogiwara. Kuroko sent him an embarrassed smile, not used to such contact, leaving Ogiwara’s confident smirk faltering to accompany his flustered, blushing face. Oops.

Kuroko had offered to share the cab with Ogiwara, but he declined, saying he wanted to enjoy the calm night sky.

Kuroko got into bed that night feeling happy he had met this boy. He had been feeling lonely lately, but something felt off about him. He enjoyed Ogiwara’s company, but he kept thinking something was missing. Why did he feel a sense of unease? Ogiwara had been nothing but sweet, though he did use an abundance of cheesy pickup lines but that didn’t seem to be the problem. Maybe he would see what Ogiwara was like on their first date.

Kuroko still had an off yet fuzzy feeling for the next hour. He was tossing and turning non-stop. He sighed, opting to switch the television in an attempt to distract his mind. Maybe this would help tucker him out for a better night’s sleep. With the news channel on he began to squint to read the words, his glasses were on the other side of the room and he could _not_ be bothered to put them back on. Kuroko failed miserably at trying to read those tiny words on the flat screen TV mounted to the opposite wall, so he shut his eyes and listened to it instead.

To the sound of incoherent rambling, Kuroko dozed off.

 

-

 

_“—body of a man was found late last night in the alleyway behind a local café in Tokyo. The way the witness described the victim is too gruesome to broadcast live on television, however the mark of the infamous serial killer the Emperor was present that night on the victim’s body.”_

Kuroko awoke to the sound of the TV still on, groaning he rolled onto his back to see what was going on this morning.

_“The victim’s parents are distraught with the news. His mother says, and I quote, “Shigehiro was such a happy cheery boy, he was kind to every person he met and would never do someone wrong. I’m horrified what this monster has done to my darling boy.” Ogiwara Shigehiro’s mother then broke down into sobs.”_

Kuroko gasped at the victim’s name, he felt his face grow pale. That was the boy he talked with last night! He felt dread fill his body. He was found behind the café that Murasakibara owns. He’d need to call Murasakibara and Himuro to check up on him.

But… if Kuroko hadn’t taken the cab home that night, would he also be a victim being announced? If only he had pestered Ogiwara to come with him in the car…

He… didn’t know what to do,

He decided to have a large cup of coffee before attempting to deal with his feelings.

Kuroko made his way to the coffee machine in his kitchen bypassing Aomine’s room. The door was open, so he stuck his head inside to offer his roommate some coffee. Kagami was passed out beside Aomine. Huh, so Aomine was a little spoon.

Deciding to leave them be, Kuroko soldiered on towards the kitchen. He didn’t know if it was just because of the disturbing news he woke up to or not, but Kuroko sensed the uneasy feeling of being watched... He looked around quickly. Not trusting himself, he looked again. He was too paranoid for his liking, what was this feeling…

“Ugh, I’m going crazy. I need so much caffeine.”

Little did Kuroko know, a certain someone was _very much_ enjoying the sight of a tired Kuroko wearing only a loose, white, almost see-through tank top, with a pair of cute, baby blue, mid-thigh pyjama shorts. And that bed hair was unbelievably adorable. With one last glance with a possessive gleam, that someone was gone.

Kuroko sighed, for some reason that uneasy feeling had lessened, but not all the way. Kuroko had the feeling that even if he wasn’t being watched directly, someone would always know where he was and what he was doing. No matter what.

With that thought Kuroko sculled the rest of his coffee, then proceeded to make another one. He was one hundred percent going crazy.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has some of my favourite writing I've ever done. I just love the humour in this, to me it's comedy gold... I wonder if it'll be the same to you guys xD  
> Please enjoy! <3

The car ride to work the next morning was slightly more cramped than the day before. Seeing as Kagami had spent the night in their apartment, Aomine had insisted Kagami wear one of his suits and that he carpool with them. Aomine was extremely pleased at the sight of Kagami in his clothes. Kuroko refused to be demoted to the back seat where even he, as small as he was, felt cramped. So, as usual he took the passenger seat next to Aomine. Leaving Kagami puzzled as of how he would even _fit_ inside the backseat with all the mess piled up in there.

“The backseats a mystery Kags, we dunno what’s back there, you just gotta roll with it.”

“Kagami-kun don’t listen to him, it’s just in need of a good clean. Aomine seems to think a ghost lives back there because he always loses his belongings and won’t admit that he lost them.” Kuroko deadpanned.

“I swear to fucking god Tetsu its real! I chucked my muffin back there and the next day it was gone!”

“Daiki you probably ate it. Wait- oh my- are you afraid of ghosts?!” Kagami barked out a laugh at this.

“Fuck no, I’m a manly man. I eat ghosts for breakfast. The only thing I’m afraid of is bees and ants.”

“Ants?! I mean, I understand bees but ants?! Come on bro that doesn’t make sense,” a puzzled Kagami questioned.

“Ants are fucking terrifying dude. You can’t trust them! They have those big ass tunnels that I swear they hide shit from us in. Why are there so many of them?! There’s like more than 10 thousand types of ants in the world, and they can carry like 50 times their body weight. That’s too many ants that have super strength. EVIL! Fucking wicked little creatures that should be blow torched on sight.”

“Oh my fucking hell Daiki.”

“Kagami-kun, get inside the car. I don’t want to be late.” Kuroko was used to Aomine and his antics.

“Kuroko, I don’t know what lives inside your backseat and I’m not sitting back there alone with the cryptid of Daiki’s car. Maybe we’ll call it Devin and hope it doesn’t steal my soul.”

“Oh, fuck Tetsu, he’s named it. We can’t kick it out now!”

“Kagami-kun look what you’ve done.”

“FUCK THIS! There is no way I’m sitting back here. Kuroko I will pay you to switch with me,” Kagami begged.

They were going to be late for work at this rate. Kuroko decided to take one for the team.

“You will buy me one vanilla milkshake after work today no exceptions. Aomine-kun you have to come too, we need to see Murasakibara about something.”

“Deal!”

“Huh? No~ Tetsu I don’ wanna come~.”

“Don’t act like a child, stop whining. This is important,” Kuroko frowned.

“Fine. But Kags has to buy me a drink too,” Aomine offered up smugly. He obviously guessed that Kagami wouldn’t deny his request. But just in case he gave an admittedly cute pout.

“My wallet suffers because I can’t resist that face,” Kagami groaned.

Kuroko and Kagami switched seats, and they were off to work. Kuroko decided to not mention to Aomine about how his shoelace had somehow gone missing at some point during the car ride.

Kuroko and Kagami split from Aomine at the reception, Aomine took the stairs to his office while the other two continued into their joined Seirin office room. Kuroko still hadn’t finished sorting out the chaos of Riko’s desk, so after greeting his co-workers that had already arrived he began organising.

It was another boring day of organising, the only thing to drown out the thoughts of the death of the boy from yesterday was a small stereo set on a music station. After a while, everything started blurring around the edges. It was as if Kuroko had been put on autopilot, he no longer had to spare a thought anymore when arranging the files. All his thoughts were centred on the emperor.

The Emperor was on the move, and it was too close to Kuroko’s home for comfort. Kuroko was actually very interested in the serial killer, he thought of him as a sort of vigilante. He was obviously messed up in the head, but at least there was a small sense of right and wrong in what he was doing? But, if he only killed criminals, then why was Ogiwara killed? He seemed too innocent to be a big-time convict… Maybe that was purposeful, maybe Ogiwara planned on luring Kuroko to his abode and doing immoral things to him. Yes, Kuroko decided that he would hope that Ogiwara did something indecent in his life and deserved death. Some may argue that no one deserved death, well, that was the only way Kuroko could cope with what had happened.

Kuroko woke from his stupor upon feeling a vibration in his back pocket. Ah, it was his cell-phone.

_A.Daiki - @zoneman_

**_4:03pm/ Tetsu im waitin in the car 4 u N Kags_ **

_K.Tetsuya - @bestshadow_

**_4:04pm/ As always, your grammar is atrocious. We’ll be right down, Aomine-kun._ **

Kuroko read the message with a shudder, another trip in that car, maybe he should start using public transport. He collected his messenger bag along with Kagami. After bidding farewell to their acquaintances, they made their way to Aomine’s car.

“Kuroko, where did your shoelace go?”

“I threw it away.”

“Huh? Wh-“

“Drop it Kagami-kun.”

After a quick stop at the apartment to change into some more comfortable clothes, they were off to The Giant’s Café.

Kuroko began walking to the café with Kagami and Aomine, he was dressed in an oversized white sweater that showed off his collarbones with a pair of ripped, black skinny jeans that were so tight that it looked painted on. White converse and a black snapback that he wore backwards, along with his signature black framed rounded glasses. Aomine and Kagami were wearing basketball jerseys (when weren’t they?), Kagami’s was a Chicago Bulls #10 and Aomine’s was a Cleveland Cavaliers #5.

“I’m so confused, why are you wearing matching purple shorts?”

“My hair is blue and Kags’ is red so together they’re purple.” Aomine replied as if the answer was blatantly obvious.

There were a few police cars surrounding the café and alleyway beside it, despite this the café was still open, so they made their way inside.  The warning bell above the door jingled as they entered.

Murasakibara or Himuro were nowhere to be seen. Kuroko walked straight for his usual table while Kagami and Aomine bought his milkshake. He was approaching his favourite booth just to see it was occupied by a man with blonde hair. The man watched as Kuroko approached the booth across from it with interest. The man was wearing a white button up shirt, the sleeves neatly rolled up to his elbows, a grey suit vest and slacks with a white and grey pinstripe tie. It looked expensive and custom fitted. He had striking gold eyes and a small silver hoop earring on his left earlobe, accompanied by a silver over the ear headset. The man watched every move Kuroko made with such interest that it was almost disturbing. The man seemed to notice Kuroko’s discomfort and just before Kuroko sat down at the other table the man made a move to stand up.

“Ah! Did you want to sit at this table? I was just leaving anyway, so feel free.” The man grinned, showing off his pearly whites. “The names Kise, I have a feeling we’ll be seeing each other very soon…” and the mysterious man was gone.

“Who the fuck was that weirdo?”

Kuroko jumped slightly, he had watched the strange man curiously as he strutted out the door and past the window and hadn’t noticed Aomine walking up behind him.

“Oh, no one. But our usual table is free now.” Kuroko brushed imaginary dirt of his ripped jeans, careful not to tear the rips on his thighs, then sat down at the booth. Aomine seemed suspicious but forgot about it in favour of taking a seat by the window. Himuro had come out to the counter to serve Kagami now, still no Murasakibara. Himuro whipped up their beverages as swift as usual, and Kagami was taking a seat across from Kuroko next to Aomine.

Kuroko took a sip from his milkshake, sighing in content. It was delicious as usual.

“I’m assuming you know of the homicide case last night in the alley next-door?”

The two nodded, Aomine spoke up first. “Yeah, I was called down late last night. I was… scared that it would be you, Tetsu.”

Kagami nodded, “I was worried when Daiki got the call… I’m glad you’re okay, man. But I’m guessing we’re here because of that?”

Kuroko confirmed their suspicions. “Yes. But, the victim was someone I knew. He had flirted with me, and we exchanged numbers.”

Kagami’s eyes widened.

Kuroko continued, “We should check up on Murasakibara-kun and Himuro-san, it’s likely that they would have been already been questioned, but maybe you can ask them while you’re here, see if they withheld anything from the police.”

“Shit, I’m sorry man. But good idea, Tetsu. Come on, let’s go in the back room, I haven’t seen Murasakibara the whole time we’ve been here. ‘S probably hiding back there chewing on his unlimited supply of junk food.” Said Aomine.

Himuro didn’t even bat an eye when they waltzed behind the counter towards the back room, however he did stop Kagami when he saw his jersey.

“Ah, a basketball idiot just like Daiki. I’m glad I’ve found another fan of American teams as well. When the NBA starts again you should come over to my house and bring Daiki, we can watch the games,” he smiled. Kagami took notice of his slight American accent and they bonded over basketball and American accents together. Aomine smiled at them, but Kuroko pulled him along into the room, they would leave Kagami for now. They had more important business to attend to.

Murasakibara was in the dark back room, lounging on an old-looking recliner couch, his eyes glued to the television. He was in his usual work clothes, but he looked more run-down than usual. His hair was knotty and unkempt, and… was that a stain on his shirt? Without taking his eyes off the television, he addressed the two.

“Go away Mine-chin, I’m super busy. Oh? Kuro-chin… You’re here. I guess I could spare a few minutes”

“Fuck you too man.”

They were here now, but where do they start. It’s not easy to just say _Hey Murasakibara! Did you see a guy murdered? Are you coping with how the police most likely thoroughly questioned you and showed you pictures of a seemingly nice boy whose remains are now scattered around an alleyway next to your pride and joy,_ is it? But before Kuroko could decide what to say first, Murasakibara spoke.

“If you’ve come to question me, know that I don’t know anything. I closed the shop not long after you and that guy left and went home.”

“Alright, but did you happen to see any suspicious people at the café yesterday, around the time that Tetsu was there?”

“Hmm. The only suspicious person in the café lately was Kise-chin but that’s only because he’s a creep…”

Kise-chin? He must be one of Murasakibara’s friends if he has a nickname, but who is this? The name Kise sounds familiar. “Have I met this ‘Kise-chin’?” asked Kuroko.

A nod of the head. “Kuro-chin probably met Kise-chin today, he sat where you normally sit.”

Ah yes, the weird man who stared at him. “You said he was actin’ suspicious lately, why’s that?” inquired Aomine.

“Hmm. Well, lately he’s always hanging out by the café, even though he doesn’t eat any sweets… And he always gets into a limo when he leaves. That’s the most suspicious part, because from what I know he’s only a corporate assistant.” He mumbled, getting distracted by the rips in Kuroko’s jeans. He always did have a childlike mind.

“Yes, that does sound questionable…”

“Yeah! And if he was gonna get in a limo with his boss he should be drivin’ the wealthy bastard around.”

“Mmm, well if I was Kise-chin’s boss I wouldn’t let Kise-chin drive me either.”

 _‘How very curious’_ thought Kuroko. “Do you know where this ‘Kise-chin’ works?”

“Yeah, I do. He works-“Murasakibara was cut off by a baffled Aomine.

“Wait, how do ya know where this fuckin creeper works?!”

“Language Aomine-kun, not in front of Murasakibara-kun,” scolded Kuroko. Aomine visibly settled down, having been scolded.

“Kise-chin is very talkative, but he buys a lot of pastries for company meetings and other events.”

“Ah that makes sense. Now where did you say he works, Murasakibara-kun?”

Murasakibara spoke in a dazed voice.

“Oh yeah… Kise-chin works at that really popular corporate company. Um, I think it was called… Akashi-Corp?”

 

-

 

A few days later there was a high-risk hostage situation. Aomine’s squad was called in, luckily the criminal was arrested and there were no casualties, however a lot of their weapons and equipment were destroyed. The reason was unknown to Kuroko.

Kagami was so worried about Aomine when they heard there were major injuries in two officers that he drove all the way to the nearest hospital, only to run into Aomine eating up a storm in the hallway beside the wounded’s room. The two policemen in Aomine’ squad who were injured needed replacement until they were healed. So, the boss, Riko, decided to let one person from Seirin go onto the team for a while for some work experience. Naturally, Kuroko was excited for this, however he knew he would never be chosen. Currently in the eyes of Riko, he was the least capable of the newbies. Even Furihata was a better option in her point of view.

Kagami was picked for the work experience time, along with two more experienced officers to fill their spots. Whilst Kagami would be learning about what it was like out in the field, he wasn’t actually allowed to take action if something were to happen. He was to hang back and wait for further instruction. Not that that stopped him though, Aomine was constantly barking out orders to his boyfriend to stay back. Or in his words ‘Get the fuck back in the car Bakagami or I’ll buy a fucking dog’ which always seemed to cause Kagami obey his commands.

Now, without his partner in the building, Kuroko was feeling bored. He had completed filing letters up to ‘E’, and it was becoming tedious. Kuroko decided to complete the mundane task as soon as possible. He sifted through the files, searching for files to arrange in alphabetical order, when he flicked over a file labelled ‘The Emperor, homicide case file, CLASSIFIED’. Kuroko looked left and right, he was alone. He quickly snatched the folder and strode to his desk.

He plopped down onto his desk chair, adjusting his glasses before opening the folder.

It was filled with quotes from witnesses, dates, times, locations, officer names, victims and all the information that the police force had discovered about the criminal. There were also several photographs of different crime scenes. What stood out to Kuroko was the fact that all the crime scenes seemed to be extremely clean and precise. The vital organs of one carcass were laid out neatly next to the body, the only blood to be seen was on the organs and there was some pooling in its bellybutton bleeding from the infamous ‘Emperor’ crown. Why was the crime scene outside of the café so bloody? Was that a one-off thing? Was the Emperor angry? Was this some lame copycat…? No, it couldn’t be, the forensic team confirmed that this was the work of the Emperor. Plus, the crown was carved into the body, well, what was left of it.

Kuroko snapped his head to the left when he heard the door to the department open, it was Riko, but she hadn’t noticed him yet. Sometimes his low presence was a gift, he would be in a lot of trouble if he was caught reading a classified file. He quickly and calmly walked back over to the files and began sorting them as if nothing had happened, placing the Emperor’s file into his bag.

Kuroko had made significant progress in his assignment when Riko called him over. He was the only employee stationed in the Seirin department that day, aside from Riko.

“Hello Kuroko-san.”

A nod “Riko-Senpai.”

“As you know, we lost a lot of materials in the hostage situation from several days ago.” Another nod.

“Well, earlier today I was contacted by a large business who are willing to sponsor us. We need the money for new materials, and the publicity could help us acquire more interns. So, we have organised a fundraiser together and I need you to inform Kagami-san, I hear you two are quite close.” As she spoke Riko handed Kuroko 2 forms containing the information concerning the fundraiser.

Kuroko agreed, but requested another two forms. One for Aomine, and one for when Aomine loses the form and needs another one. Ever the responsible roommate.

The day was finished, so Kuroko hailed a taxi (Aomine apparently couldn’t be bothered to drive all the way from the apartment to get Kuroko. Kagami and Aomine had supposedly finished early and they ditched the rest of the day. Honestly, they probably spent the afternoon making out and watching Netflix.)

As he slid inside the car and told the driver the address for his apartment, he decided to finally read over the fundraiser form. Riko hadn’t even told him who was supporting the police department all of a sudden.

The sheet of paper had the venue, time, dress code and information about the event. And in tiny print at the bottom of the page read 3 words.

_Funded by Akashi-Corp._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, you're finished. Good job! Please comment and kudos, it gives this broke writer some love and sense of life. :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we have Akashi's tragic(tm) backstory that is pretty important, but makes for a boring chapter. Though, I suppose the next chapter will make up for it. :)

Something was missing.

Ever since Akashi Seijuurou had become the CEO of a big brand company, he had always felt that something wasn’t right, something was amiss in his everyday life. He always ignored it.

You see, Akashi Seijuurou wasn’t an ordinary man. His family owned large, multi-billion-yen company named Akashi-Corp, it was originally owned by his father. Seijuurou now owned Akashi-Corp, it was left in Akashi Masaomi’s will when he died. But if you want to be technical, Seijuurou inherited the company after he murdered his father.

It was the first time blood had spilt onto his hands. Masaomi was a strict father, never allowing young Seijuurou to spend his time doing anything fun like playing outside, instead he was ordered to learn complicated instruments and do homework until he passed out. However, his stern teachings were mellowed in the company of Seijuurou’s mother, Shiori. She was a kind soul, and she was Seijuurou’s only escape from the harsh outside world.

In her free time, she would take Seijuurou outside to play ballgames and draw with chalk on the pavement inside the mansions gates. As Seijuurou grew older, his mother grew ill, unable to spend time outside with Seijuurou. His father became stressed about his wife, so he forced Seijuurou to study a lot more than usual, too much for his young self to handle.

Whenever Seijuurou would make a mistake, Masaomi would strike him to expel his anger. The belt would rest over the chair in Masaomi’s home office. It was an intimidating object; one glance could lift gooseflesh along Seijuurou’s spine. He would strike him cruelly. Despite this, he would never scar Seijuurou. There would never be evidence of his violence.

Soon after spending many months in hospital, Seijuurou’s mother passed away. The funeral was small. The only two Akashi’s remaining were the only attendee’s. His father did not shed one tear, and when Seijuurou began to shake Masaomi gave Seijuurou a sharp slap on his back and spoke sternly.

“Son, Akashi’s do not cry. We shall not grieve or mourn for our loss. We shall move on and never look back. This matter is no longer important. Let us leave.” Masaomi dragged Seijuurou back to the car.

He would never forget the burning anger that sparked in the pit of his stomach at his father’s words, the way his teeth clenched until his jaw felt like it would fall out. The feeling of blood running down his forearms, the deep crescents left in his hands from squeezing his fists so forcefully.

Did his father not care for his mother? Was she just a tool to produce an heir? The blood running from his hands was oddly calming, Seijuurou always did fancy red. But this red was a beautiful crimson, more beautiful than anything he had ever seen before. As he watched it roll down to his wrists he had an idea. If he could make it through his father’s teachings, then wait until he was old enough to take over the company, he could end his father’s life. Scum such as he should burn in the pits of hell, but Seijuurou wouldn’t let the devil in charge have all the fun. He would make him suffer.

What a pathetic existence indeed.

But why stop there? Why not distinguish all pathetic vermin of the world? He would travel the world with his company, and with his power and money, he would rid the world of those pitiful creatures.

 

A few years after that man’s death, Akashi felt something was missing in his life. He tried to ignore it, but it would always gnaw away at his skin, prickling along his neck and strike him in the heart and mind at random points during his day. He failed to ignore it, no matter how much he tried. This feeling stopped suddenly one day. The day he saw _him_. This secluded, emptiness was overpowered, when Akashi Seijuurou saw Kuroko Tetsuya for the first time.

Such a weak presence, and yet Akashi felt drawn to him. It was intriguing. Akashi had never encountered someone like this before. The way the stranger held himself was like fog on a brisk morning. He walked like he was floating, and the emptiness in Akashi’s chest filled with a heavy weight.

_How mysterious._

Just shorter than Akashi, but not scrawny. He had toned arms and thick thighs, and his ass was toned yet plush. He wore skin tight clothes, showing off every curve of his perfect body. Little to no body hair, but the light blue mess on his head was so inviting, Seijuurou wanted to stroke, brush and _pull_ that thick head of soft and silky-looking hair. He was beautiful. The way he smiled when his acquaintance would do something silly lit a fire in Seijuurou’s heart. The way his beautiful blue eyes lit up when he was amused. How he looked so calm and composed, but he would trip and think no one saw him.

He was… perfect. And Akashi _wanted_ him

But Akashi couldn’t take him right away. He needed to prepare his house, a room for his pet. Make everything safe, and inescapable. He needed a plan, his pet was smart. He’d need to be a step in front of him at all times. Akashi wanted him, felt compelled to own and _ruin_ the boy.

Akashi followed the boy to a small café, the large man at the counter called him ‘Kuro-chin’. This seemed like a nickname, Akashi couldn’t be sure that this was the stranger’s real name, so he’d continue to think of the boy as his pet. The boy ordered a vanilla tea and sat down at a table facing Seijuurou, then he started to read a thick novel. He seemed sophisticated.

“Tetsuya, how’s Daiki?” The barista was suddenly speaking to his pet. Tetsuya. Tetsuya. _Tetsuya._ Those eyes, like diamonds sparkling in the afternoon sun. His soft mop of silky light blue hair that looked soft to the touch. Oh, how Akashi longed to run his fingers through it. Thank you, whatever higher power there was, that Tetsuya sat facing his way. Because his lips looked absolutely divine, Akashi began to imagine devouring them. Light pink, soft and full… Seijuurou wanted to _bite_ them, make them bleed. And those sinfully tight jeans, what Akashi would do-

“Are you okay, sir?”

Suddenly, the object of Akashi’s fantasies was a lot closer than he imagined, a hand on his shoulder pulled his attention. He assured him that he was fine, just lost in his thoughts. They introduced themselves to each other, Akashi was excited to learn his full name; Kuroko Tetsuya. Yes, he wanted this boy to be his.

He would watch his beautiful Tetsuya anytime he could, he would make note of every little thing Tetsuya did.  To the way his bed hair looked to the way he set out the clothes for the next day the night before. He became more and more perfect every time Akashi saw him.

Akashi stalked (he preferred the term ‘admiring from afar’) Kuroko for around a year, anyone who showed _any_ romantic interest in _his Tetsuya_ would be taken care of… No one would get near to his Tetsuya unless he deemed them acceptable. However, around one year after he discovered his Tetsuya, someone tried to take Tetsuya from him.

He watched the disgusting rat try to court his Tetsuya. No, it wasn’t acceptable.

Akashi called his assistant, he hadn’t brought any weapons and Seijuurou wasn’t fond of snapping necks.

At least not in broad daylight.

“Ryouta, bring my favourites.”

And so Ryouta did. He brought Akashi’s black plated steel scissor knives. Easily concealed as just expensive office scissors.

Today though, Akashi was enraged. Someone had tried to take _his gem._ Yes, Tetsuya was fitting of a jewel. His jewel. And they would pay for what they’d done. Akashi couldn’t wait to hear this disgusting pest beg for forgiveness.

Akashi didn’t even let the poor boy defend himself let alone beg for his life. After he had slaughtered him, he burned his tongue, hands and eyes. Anything that had seen, touched or spoken to Tetsuya shall burn. Ryouta was waiting for Akashi in front of the café in Akashi’s limo.

“Akashicchi? That one didn’t seem like someone you’d deem worthy of exterminating.”

It wasn’t. Akashi had already looked up everything there was to know about him. Ogiwara Shigehiro, 26, currently unemployed, in a mountain biking club, two brothers and a mother and a father etc. But most important, no criminal record. If he had stayed away from Tetsuya, then he wouldn’t have had to end him. Not that it matters anymore, of course he didn’t agree with killing innocents. But, this boy wasn’t innocent.

He’d tried to steal _his_ jewel. His Tetsuya. **His.**

“It had to be done. Now Ryouta, we’re going back to the company. I have a few calls to make.”

“Yes, Akashicchi” he answered, ever the good minion.

As they drove to Akashi-Corp, Akashi dialled the local police department’s number. He had a fundraiser to organise, and a few things that needed to be purchased. A phone call to his trusty friend, he needed to acquire some… Things…

“What do you want Akashi, I’m busy.” A deep voice answered.

“Ha-ha… Is that the way to treat an old friend?” Akashi chuckled.

The voice huffed an annoyed sigh, “You only call when you want something.”

“I need what I got last time, but in a non-lethal amount this time. This victim cannot die.” He said in a suddenly severe voice.

“Fine fine, I require the same exchange. Protect him for me and I’ll get it to you,” the man replied.

“Yes of course, you know… I’ve never seen someone make you laugh before, he’s a keeper, keeps you on your toes,” Akashi chuckled in genuine amusement.

The man sighed heavily “You know I don’t feel that way about him…”

“Yes of course, and I am wearing a dress right now.” Akashi deadpanned his reply.

“Shut the fu- you know what. I’m busy, when do you need it by?”

“I need it three days from now, on Friday.”

“Of fucking course you need it on my busiest day- Fine, it’ll be on your desk Friday afternoon.”

The phone call ended, and Ryouta instructed the driver to begin driving. As the car drove Akashi let his mind wander to a certain sweet boy, who liked vanilla, reading and basketball. The person Akashi would spend the rest of his life with when the time came.

Of course, that time was coming. Very, very soon.

After a leisurely stop at a 5-star lingerie store, and a tailor, Akashi was on his way to Akashi-Corp.

 

-

 

Akashi at work was a completely different person than Akashi in his free time. At work he demanded everyone’s attention, he overflowed dominance and power. No one who had the honour of being hired by the man himself would ever dare disrespect him.

Except for one.

“Ugh… you’re back. I was hoping that I’d have the pleasure of not seeing you today when I was told that ‘the boss is on urgent personal business’.”

“Good afternoon to you too, Chihiro.” Akashi replied monotonously.

“Yeah yeah whatever, I did all the crap that your team failed to finish. Fucking useless I swear to the god,” he whispered the last part, even though he knew Akashi would hear him anyway.

“Yes, thank you Chihiro. I will be in my office.”

Mayuzumi made a show out of celebrating silently before getting back to work. The other receptionists were clueless as to how Mayuzumi kept his job, and the answer was simple. He was still useful. He was very capable at his job, he brought Akashi his coffee (perfect every time), he answered calls and completed all assignments to a level that Akashi was more than satisfied with. The most important factor being that Mayuzumi was friends with one Kuroko Tetsuya.

Akashi had informed Mayuzumi of his secret life because he trusted Mayuzumi. He didn’t agree with Akashi’s ways, but he respected him. If Akashi asked Mayuzumi to do something, anything, he would do it without complaining. Mayuzumi was to stay in regular contact with Kuroko for two reasons.

  1. Akashi had specifically asked him to.
  2. Kuroko was surprisingly very similar to Mayuzumi and they had become much closer than Mayuzumi had anticipated. They were friends.



They both enjoyed novels and when one of them recommended a novel, no matter how bizarre or weird they seemed, the other would read it anyway. They also kept in contact to complain about their friends. Kuroko about Aomine, and Mayuzumi about everyone in at his work (except for Akashi, he’s not allowed to talk to Kuroko about Akashi). They had a lot in common.

Akashi made his way up to his office, it was impeccably clean, as always. The group of people directly underneath him in rank, named Rakuzan, had given up on counting how many times Mayuzumi had called Akashi an ‘all knowing and insufferable clean freak’. Akashi had counted 429.

He sat down at his large desk and picked up his cell phone and flicked to his photo gallery. His beautiful Tetsuya had his own folder. He was gorgeous. He couldn’t wait for Tetsuya to be his. Tetsuya _would_ be his… soon.

Yes. Very soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please,,,, I beg,,,, comment and tell me what you think??? I'd love to know if someone is actually enjoying this...


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the comments on the last chapter!! They brought me a lot of happiness, so I've decided to update earlier than I had planned to!

“Aomine-kun… Would you care to explain why I received lingerie in the mail today?”

Interested, Aomine walked over to Kuroko, peering over his shoulder.

“Woah, these are like, really expensive!” Kuroko glared in response.

“Tetsu, I didn’t buy them. Jeez, it’s like you have no faith in me.”

“I don’t. How would you even know that they’re expensive?” Kuroko asked.

“Lingerie is a fine art Kuroko. Look at that crimson lace, it’s so finely put-together, the way the straps would lay across one’s lower back. It’s beautiful.” Aomine spoke softly, pretending to have shed tears.

Kuroko rolled his eyes. “But who would send me this? It’s been sent to ‘Kuroko Tetsuya’ but it doesn’t have a return address…” He whispered.

“Yeah… And that’s you!” Aomine mocked. “Look Tetsu, it’s probably some joke that someone with too much money and too much time on their hands did. And on the plus side, I hear lingerie is really comfortable to sleep in.” Aomine shrugged his shoulders, walking down the hall to his own room, slamming the door shut.

Kuroko would have agreed with Aomine, he might have even concluded that some creep sent it to some random person _before_ he consulted Aomine. But he knew it wasn’t random. Inside the box, folded neatly underneath the lingerie, was a beautiful suit. It was deep black and fully lined with red silk, along with a white button up, and a red tie. The shoes were also shiny black. It all looked extremely expensive, so expensive that Kuroko felt uncomfortable touching it. Kuroko didn’t think someone would send him all of this for some elaborate prank.

Was… it was his size. How did this mysterious person even get his measurements? Kuroko didn’t even know his measurements!

Kuroko hadn’t told Aomine, but there had been a note with the lingerie and suit. Kuroko didn’t want to open it while Aomine was home. He wasn’t sure why, but he got the feeling this was something he didn’t want to share.

He was unsure what to do with his rather expensive looking gift. Well, he wouldn’t let a good suit go to waste. He’d needed a suit for the fundraiser event that night anyway. But what to do with the panties… No thrift store would want them, and Aomine had said lingerie was comfortable… Kuroko wondered how he knew that.

Kuroko sighed before unbuttoning his pants, kicking them off along with his boxers. He pulled on the lingerie bottoms, eyes widening at how regrettably comfortable they were.

“Of course, they fit perfectly…” He whispered to himself.

They fit snug around his plump bottom and hugged his hips nicely. They looked beautiful on him, but Kuroko wouldn’t admit that. Kuroko lifted his arm, tilting his wrist to check his watch. He had about two hours before he had to be ready for the fundraiser party. He would wear the suit to the fundraiser and he’d already showered. Kuroko decided to throw on some sweatpants on over his panties and continue reading the last book in the series Mayuzumi recommended to him.

Kuroko awoke suddenly to a loud banging on his bedroom door.

“Tetsu! You ready? We’re leaving in 5,” Aomine shouted through the door.

Kuroko sat bolt upright and took in the situation… He had fallen asleep.

“Yes, I’ll be ready soon.”

He raced to stand up, sprayed some deodorant on and began to try to tame his unruly hair, it wasn’t to his taste but couldn’t care less in that moment. He stripped his sweatpants and shirt off and pulled the suit on. A beautiful fit as expected. He chose to wear some nice cologne, then tied his tie.

He felt like he was forgetting something. Phone? Check. Wallet? Check. Keys? Check. Ticket to entry? All check. “Oh well,” he muttered.

Kuroko strode out of his room, calm and collected. Just to hear a loud wolf whistle.

“Tetsu you look sexy!” Aomine called out, laughing at Kuroko’s embarrassment.

“Oh shut it, Daiki.” Kagami slapped Aomine hard on the shoulder in reprisal.

“Thank you Aomine-kun I’m glad you like it. It… was a gift and I wasn’t so sure I’d suit it.”

As he three sauntered out the house and down the street towards where their Uber was waiting for them, many men and women stared. Kuroko had to admit, he and his friends looked very attractive in their clean-cut suits. Kagami, who would usually not even have his buttons in the correct button-hole, looked charming for once. As did Aomine. They always wore suits to work, but these suits were different. Tighter, more expensive, well ironed and professionally made.

The three boys ignored their admirers and climbed into the Uber, with Kuroko in the passenger seat.

The fundraiser was being held in a large mansion up in the rich part of town. Kuroko hadn’t bothered to remember anything about the venue except for the address. As they arrived, Kuroko paid the Uber and the boys made their way up to the mansion.

“Woah! This fucker looks expensive.” Aomine stated in awe.

“Yeah. You could fit so many basketball courts in this place!” Kagami added, visibly excited.

“Of course, only you would compare a gorgeous mansion such as this, to a basketball court…” Kuroko sighed.

As they made their way to the front, a woman was waiting to greet them at the entrance. She took their tickets and let them inside without a word. The interior was ever more amazing then the exterior. It was filled with enthralling guests dressed just as fancy as them. There was food displayed on several tables and a large box ready to collect funds for the police department. Riko and Hyuga were already at the stand, conversing with a small group of guests.

There were many people that Kuroko recognised from the precinct, but there were many from the ‘Akashi-Corp’ that Kuroko had heard of. How odd that they would take such a sudden interest in a police department of all places…

“Hm, Kuro-chin. You were also invited.” A voice spoke from behind Kuroko. It was Murasakibara.

“Ah yes Murasakibara-kun, this fundraiser was actually made for the police department in which I work.” Kuroko turned and faced upwards to see the purple giant also in a suit. “If I may ask, why were you invited Murasakibara-kun?”

“Oh. I was hired by Kise-chin to cater snacks”. Oh, that made sense.

The conversation hit a lull and Murasakibara took that as his cue to leave. Kuroko had expected that to happen so he turned around to face his friends, only to realise they had gone missing, well they had probably just wandered off somewhere, but now Kuroko was alone in a hall full of snobby rich people.

There were waiters passing alcohol around, several offered him drinks to which Kuroko declined because he was a tragic lightweight. Two beers and he was gone…

He seemed to be walking around aimlessly. There were plenty of people that he could try to start a conversation with, but he didn’t know how. Majority seemed too stuck up their own behinds to have a polite conversation. At least the music was nice. It was a mix between classical and softly sung songs.

He was beginning to become bored until he spotted a familiar face. It was that strange Kise guy, he was with a beautiful woman with long pink hair. They both seemed to be striding straight towards him. The woman was wearing a long off the shoulder red dress. A lot of people seemed to be wearing red. Kise seemed to be nervous, frantically attempting to pull the woman in the opposite direction, while the woman continued forward with inhumane force.

“Hello, Kuroko Tetsuya. I’ve been wanting to meet you for so long!” She spurted out, pulling Kuroko’s hands from the comfort of his sides and into her hands so she could shake them.

“Momoicchi… I told you not to talk to him…” Kise groaned. She suddenly looked angry

“You talked to him in the café! I’ve liked him longer than you, I should have been the one to meet him first!” she spat into Kise’s face.

She turned to face Kuroko again, who was very confused, and looked delighted. “I’m Momoi Satsuki, but you can call me Satsuki! This idiot over here is Kise Ryouta. You met him at that café the other day. Sorry about that by the way. Uh, our boss wanted him to check out some employees of the department we would be funding,” she spoke.

“Oh, well that makes sense. Pleased to make your acquaintance. Both of you.” Kuroko bowed. He heard the two mutter a ‘how polite’. He was glad that this Kise wasn’t the creep he had made him out to be, although he was still uncomfortable in his presence. When he stood up from his bow, Kise was missing and Momoi seemed even more ecstatic than before.

“Um, where did Kise-kun go?” he asked politely.

“Ah him… Don’t worry about him. He has something to do for our… boss. But don’t worry he’ll come and talk to you later,” she explained. Something about the way she said that seemed suspicious, but Kuroko decided not to dwell on it. He was at a party after all.

Momoi and Kuroko chatted for a while. She worked for Akashi-Corp and was also an assistant to the head boss. She didn’t follow him around like a dog though, she specialised in statistics, and apparently, they had bought out many companies with her help. Kuroko was very impressed by her skillset.

At one point during their chat, Aomine had joined them, he explained that he and Kagami had been separated from Kuroko somehow, and now he had lost Kagami.

A sharp ‘bing’ noise interrupted their conversation. It was Momoi’s cell phone, she read her message, perking up as she read it. She looked around and then set her eyes on Kuroko. She put her phone back in her purse and reluctantly tore her eyes away from Kuroko.

“It’s been nice talking to you, but I have business to attend to,” she stated, surprisingly formal. Momoi whipped her hair around as she walked away gracefully, and then she was lost in the crowd. As soon as Momoi left, Kise appeared.

Kuroko could not catch a break.

“Hey Kurokocchi!” he cried. _‘Kurokocchi?’_

“I brought some drinks over, I wasn’t sure what you’d like but you seemed like a margarita person, so I got you this one,” he rambled on, smiling as he eyed the drinks he had brought over on a tray.

He looked up, “Oh. I didn’t realise you were with someone. I’m Kise.” he stated, blank faced. Not as polite as he had been with Kuroko.

“I’m thankful for your offer Kise-kun but I’ve decided not to drink tonight,” said Kuroko apologetically.

“Oh no you _must_ try the margarita Kurokocchi, our boss had spared no expense tonight, and these margaritas are to die for…” he stated with a sly smile. Kuroko, once again, politely declined. And so, it went, back and forth, Kise getting more desperate for Kuroko to drink something and Kuroko declining. Aomine had wandered off and they were left alone.

Finally, Kise shoved the margarita into Kuroko’s hands and spoke, “Kuroko you’re so stiff, drink, it’ll make you feel better I promise,” he mumbled, walking closer to Kuroko with a weird gleam in his eyes. Kuroko was scared now, why was Kise being so creepy now? Kise was getting closer, one foot at a time. So, Kuroko decided to do what he thought of first, get away from the strange man as fast as possible.

He turned around, rushing through strangers and bumping expensive shoulders. He tried to be careful, but he spilled a splash of his margarita on his trousers. Shit.

Kuroko slowed to a stop to survey the damage. It wasn’t too bad, but if he didn’t get it off soon, it would stain. He cursed silently and walked forward only to bump into a solid chest, he looked up to see a mop of red hair.

“Oh, hey Kuroko. You found me! I got lost and- hey is that a margarita? Can I have it?” he asked in a rush. Kagami was stood by the bar, he seemed drunk.

Kuroko went to reply but before he could Kagami snatched the drink and downed it, “Woah that was delicious!” he yelled and then walked away. Kuroko sighed.

 “I should probably go home and clean these pants” he frowned.

“Leaving so soon?” an elegant voice asked. Kuroko, surprised, looked up quickly to see a handsome man stood in front of him. “Are you not enjoying the party?” the man asked.

“Oh, um. Hello. No, the party is wonderful. I just seem to have spilt alcohol on me and I wish to not ruin these trousers,” Kuroko supplied.

The man looked interested, “Oh, then how about you come upstairs with me and I shall fix that for you. You see, I know many ways to deal with tough stains,” He smiled a charming smile, winking deviously. Kuroko couldn’t say no. The man offered Kuroko his arm, and Kuroko took it, following the man upstairs.

The man walked gracefully, elegantly weaving through each long corridor. The man was busy leading Kuroko, so Kuroko decided to use the time to properly observe the man.

He wasn’t much taller than Kuroko, with a similar haircut to him, however this man’s hair was an exquisite crimson. He was wearing an all-black suit, although his tie was red. It was similar to Kuroko’s own tie. However, the most astonishing thing about this man was his eyes. Striking heterochromatic eyes, one deep red and one bright yellow. They were electrifying, and Kuroko was entranced.

They made their way to a room down a dim corridor, the noise from the party downstairs just fuzzy background noise. Through a doorway lie a bedroom.

The man suddenly spoke, “Now, I’ll need you to take off your trousers.”

“Pardon? I’m not sure I heard you correctly…” Kuroko questioned, eyes widened comically.

“No, I believe you heard me just fine.” The man laughed, “I’ll be using chemicals and I do not wish to harm you, so the best option is for you to relieve yourself of them before I clean them,” the man stated.

“Oh… Yes okay…” Kuroko replied.

Kuroko began unbuttoning his belt, then his trousers. Panic is what he felt next. He was still wearing the revealing, red lace panties. Fuck, thought Kuroko. The man was waiting patiently, a kind smile adorned his face.

He pulled his pants down and gave the soiled pants to the man. The man raked his heterochromatic eyes all over Kuroko’s naked legs. “You suit red.”

Kuroko blushed and looked away. This would be in the list of ‘Top 10 Most Embarrassing Things to Happen to Kuroko Tetsuya’ for sure.

Curse those panties for being so undeniably comfortable.

The man stole one last fixated glance at Kuroko before walking into another room.

“Did… did that just happen…?” Kuroko sat on the comfortable bed to wait, snatching a pillow and using it to cover his underwear.

Kuroko was left alone for roughly ten minutes and then the man returned, pants in hand.

“All finished and good as new.” He gestured to the clean trousers in his hands. The man handed them to Kuroko and when their hands touched briefly Kuroko felt an electric spark strike all the way up his spine.

He stood up from the bed to re-acquire his pants. They  felt more comfortable than before, and no stain in sight.

“Wow, thank you very much. Would you like compensation?” he asked. The man chuckled and shook his head. “No, its fine.”

“Oh, where are my manners?” The man grinned, “My name is Akashi Seijuurou,” he spoke, bowing slightly. Kuroko’s eyed widened.

“I am Kuroko Tetsuya, pleased to make your acquaintance, Akashi-san. If I may ask, do you perhaps own Akashi-Corp?”

The man chuckled. Kuroko couldn’t help find his chuckle alluring. He nodded, “Yes that would be me, and please address me less formally.” he stated.

Kuroko nodded, “You’re Akashi-kun then, and you have a beautiful home.” Akashi laughed at him, then nodded in thanks.

Great. The owner of the biggest company in Japan has seen him in sexy red panties. The situation was now worthy of ‘Top 3 Most Embarrassing Things to Happen to Kuroko Tetsuya’…

A crash was heard from downstairs. Followed by distressful shouts. Akashi looked wary and started heading towards the door and downstairs, with Kuroko following close behind.

In the middle of the hall was a large crowd. Akashi didn’t care for spectators for whatever was happening in the middle of the crowd as he charged through. The people who saw him coming parted for him, cowering in fear. Kuroko was always confused as to why people were afraid of the rich. Akashi wasn’t that powerful, was he?

“Someone, call an ambulance!” someone from the crowd yelled. Kuroko still couldn’t see what was going on.

“TAIGA!” Kuroko heard Aomine yell. That got his attention. He pushed through people behind Akashi to the centre of the crowd, there lied an unconscious Kagami. Blood was pooling behind his head, likely from the hard fall.

“The ambulance is on its way,” someone informed.

Aomine was kneeling beside Kagami, stroking his face and tears were pooling in his eyes. Kuroko was scared for his friend. What happened?

Kagami was no lightweight and he knew his limits… Kuroko walked forward, abandoning Akashi. A hand stopped him from getting any closer. “Tetsuya, don’t go near him. The paramedics are on their way, no need to get involved,” Akashi spoke.

“He’s my friend though? I want to go comfort Aomine-kun, and I am worried about Kagami-kun…” he whispered in befuddlement.

Akashi’s grip grew tighter, “Tetsuya, stay here with me. The paramedics will be here shortly, you wouldn’t want to be in the way, would you?” The voice Akashi spoke in was deep and commanding.

Kuroko’s mind was going crazy. What was happening? Why wouldn’t Akashi let him go to his friends? It was all so confusing.

“We just met, Akashi-kun, you are not the boss of me. I’m going to aid my friends now, excuse me.” But Akashi’s grip wasn’t loosening, so Kuroko ripped his shoulder from the strong grip of Akashi’s hand, and walked towards his friends. But, by the time he got there the paramedics were bursting through the door demanding to be given space. They checked his pulse and the bleeding wound then rushed him onto a stretcher and into the ambulance.

Akashi was right, he would only be in the way. There was only enough room in the ambulance for Aomine to go with him, so Kuroko would meet Aomine there later.

Kuroko turned around, frantically searching for Akashi, only to be left disappointed when he couldn’t seek him out.

 

-

 

“After many tests and careful evaluation, I’m happy to tell you that Kagami-san is able to go home. I’d recommend a few days of rest. He is healthy, and no major injuries have spurred from your head injury. He’ll be in pain, but no long-term problems should occur.”

A sigh of relief sounded throughout the room, Aomine was crying. Again.

“Though, I will say that we found drugs in Kagami-san’s bloodstream. Not illicit drugs like cocaine, but one strong enough to paralyse and knock out its victim. This drug was one that could only be ingested orally.”

“Huh? What the fuck?!” Aomine shouted. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that someone at the party last night tried to drug Kagami-kun…” Kuroko stated. “Kagami-kun, do you have any enemies?”

Kagami shook his head, looking lost.

The doctor left the room after prescribing some pain medication to Kagami for his minor head injury.

 

Riko had given Kagami a week off, no matter how much he assured that he was fine and that he wanted to get back to work.

Kuroko’s mind was plagued with thoughts about red hair and dual-coloured eyes the whole week. He felt guilt for thinking of anything other than Kagami, but he simply couldn’t help it. The way the suit fit him. The way he walked. The way he talked.

He dreamt about heterochromatic eyes, a deep and smooth voice, and read silk panties.

 

-

 

_“Don’t think I’ll let you get away so easily next time, my jewel…”_

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed, please comment and kudos!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! School is hard to balance with writing... Well, I hope you enjoy! <3

_My Dear Jewel,_

_I hope these find you well. I had them tailored for you especially. I imagine you to look exquisite in them._

_Do not worry, my angel, you must fear not, I shall not harm you. For you are already mine._

_Sincerely, The Emperor._

 

 _‘What the fuck’_ was the first thing that came to mind as Kuroko read the letter that came with the suit and lingerie. Surely this wasn’t real. The Emperor hadn’t actually contacted him. What. The. Fuck. No, this was a prank. Somebody was pranking him. Hahaha! Very funny! The camera crews could come out now.

Alas, there was no camera crew in his closet.

Jewel? Angel? Why was the Emperor calling him this? Kuroko wondered if this was the real Emperor, and if he’d become one of his victims… But, then again, the note said that the Emperor wouldn’t harm him. Could he really trust a stranger he’d never met? And why was he being addressed as if Kuroko was owned by this creep?

“Hey Tetsu? You’re lookin’ pale, more than usual. You alright?” A tired Aomine interrupted Kuroko’s internal panic. He folded the letter and placed it inside his bedside drawer.

“Yes, I’m fine,” he replied, “is Kagami feeling okay?”

Aomine sighed and rubbed a hand over his face, “Yeah he’s doing okay. But he’s got a fucking headache. I’ll kill the bastard who did this to him,” he growled.

Aomine had been over-working himself ever since drugging incident at the fundraiser. He had been staying late at work trying to catch the Emperor, trying to catch the person who drugged Kagami. He was hardly home to see Kuroko, let alone his boyfriend. The only reason Aomine was home at the time was because his boss forcibly removed him from the premises after finding Aomine passed out from exhaustion at his desk. Kuroko wanted Aomine to rest, to not push himself too hard on the cases. Aomine just wanted to catch the criminals as soon as possible.

“Shall I get him some painkillers?” Aomine shook his head.

“I already gave him some, as soon as they started working he knocked the fuck out,” he chuckled humourlessly.

 

-

 

It was weird being at work these days. Kuroko felt… empty. He didn’t care anymore, it wasn’t enjoyable.

Aomine was never home anymore, and Kagami was allowed to come back to work. Upon his return, Riko informed Kagami that he had been upgraded per Aomine’s request. They’d both be working on the Emperor case now, and Kuroko didn’t know what to do.

He felt guilty. He should hand the letter he received to the police. This couldn’t be legal, he was withholding evidence for a major criminal from the police. Even worse, the police that he _worked_ for.

But the note was somewhat of a comfort. It wasn’t much, but someone out there cared about him enough to buy him a suit and send him a note with it, it didn’t matter who the person was, all that mattered was the happy feeling he received when he saw the letter. He felt a warmth fill his chest, and it made him feel guiltier. He was allowing himself to feel warmth and comfort at the thought of a possible serial killer.

Kuroko shook his head, he was shaken up from the past few days’ events. Anyone would be a bit uneasy in a situation like that.

Kuroko continued sorting files, he was nearly finished the disastrous pile and he would be glad to be free of it.

 

-

 

“Why are you bringing this up again?!”

“I just want you to take care of yourself…”

“Well I don’t need your fucking help. I’m a grown ass man and I know how to keep my body alive!”

“A-Aomine-kun, please calm down” Kuroko stuttered.

“No, Tetsuya! I will not calm down! You’re pissing me off for the last goddamn time.”

Why did this conversation always end up in a screaming match?

Kuroko had asked Aomine what he’d eaten today, and when Aomine said that he hadn’t eaten yet, Kuroko had asked Aomine to take a break. A simple request, really.

Aomine’s face twisted in anger and then begun the argument of ‘Aomine denying his overworking habits’.

“Please just take a day off, you’re hardly eating or sleeping…” Kuroko raised his voice.

“You know what Kuroko, Fuck off. Get out of my apartment!” he yells.

Kuroko was shocked, unable to voice his complete and utter astonishment.

“You- what?”

“That’s right, get out.”

Kuroko couldn’t even comprehend what was happening. His best friend of so many years was kicking him out over a petty argument?

Kuroko glared, “I cannot believe you would stoop so low…”

Regret was written all over Aomine’s face, but Kuroko was too upset to care. He walked to his room and packed his essentials, making sure to pack the letter… Then, he called the first person he could think of.

“Hey, sorry to bother you but you know I wouldn’t call unless it’s important. I need a place to stay for a while…”

“I’m on my way. Apartment?”

“Yes.” And the call ended.

Kuroko waited in his room with the door closed. After a while, a horn beeped outside and Kuroko shouldered his duffle back, marching past Aomine without a word.

No words were exchanged as Kuroko tossed his bag in the backseat and plopped down in the passenger seat. No one asked questions. No greetings were said, and the silence was comfortable. Kuroko really treasured this friendship. A sudden wave of gratefulness washed over him. “Thank you, Mayuzumi, for housing me on such short notice,” he said with a smile.

“Yeah yeah whatever, shut up and rant to me, I’m getting pizza”, Mayuzumi spoke, monotonously much like Kuroko. Kuroko let a rare smile show, before an even sadder frown took its place and he felt his eyes fill with tears.

“Yep, we’re getting pizza. You know what, let’s get drunk,” Mayuzumi shouted as he suddenly swerved into a liquor store’s car park. Kuroko laughed as he gripped the seat for dear life.

“I appreciate it, but I’m not so sure about that…” Kuroko said, uncertain as he wiped at his falling tears.

“Nonsense, you look like shit, I need a friend to drink with, and you’re the only person in my life that I don’t hate!” Mayuzumi said as he climbed out the car and strode into the store. Kuroko didn’t follow him inside, there was no point in reasoning anyway. Kuroko could use a drink.

Mayuzumi came out five minutes later with a carton of cheap beer, one bottle of sake and another of tequila. Kuroko was in for a rough night.

 

-

 

By the end of Kuroko’s second beer, he was feeling tipsy and floaty. Mayuzumi saw his finished bottle and poured him a shot of tequila. Kuroko coughed on it, and decided it tasted nasty. But he liked how he felt warm and fuzzy afterwards.

He wasn’t thinking about Aomine or their argument anymore. All he was thinking about was how the dim lighting in Mayuzumi’s kitchen lighted Mayuzumi’s face in all the right angles and how soft his hair looked. How Mayuzumi’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed another shot of tequila. The light flush of his cheeks and neck.

_‘Mayuzumi-kun looks delicious, I’d eat him’_

“What?”

What?

“You’re not too shabby yourself, Kuroko,” Mayuzumi slurred, “but boss said I can’t touch ya.”

“We should have sex,” Kuroko stated bluntly.

“Nah, we’re both drunk. And I don’t fancy dying before you’ve sorted out this feud with Aomine!” Mayuzumi threw a hand into the air, consequently spilling beer over the floor.

Kuroko pouted before crawling on his hands and knees towards Mayuzumi. Well, he was trying, it was more of a drunken roll but Mayuzumi was also too inebriated to notice.

Kuroko dived in for a kiss and Mayuzumi narrowly dodged it with a “Woah, not so fast!”

“Come on, Mayuzumi-kun, have some fun!” he slurred.

“Uh uh, I don’t think so. Bed time.”

Mayuzumi stood up, albeit wobbly, and attempted to drag Kuroko to a sloppily made futon, but Kuroko had other plans.

He tackled Mayuzumi to the carpeted floor, hugging him tightly, Mayuzumi let out a groan as he hit the floor, and Kuroko shouted in victory. But, something felt wrong. Something felt out of place. It felt similar to what Kuroko felt while talking to Ogiwara. Happy, but not happy. Off. Wrong. Incomplete.

Mayuzumi took a deep breathe, then he was sitting up and rolling Kuroko onto the futon. He sighed, Kuroko had fallen asleep. He grabbed out a sharpie and drew on Kuroko’s face, giggling childishly. Mayuzumi slumped his way to his room and collapsed onto his bed. He rolled to his bedside, picking up his phone and typing out a quick message, falling asleep as soon as he turned off his phone.

 

-

 

**Bang bang bang!**

Kuroko was awoken to the sound of three firm knocks on the front door. At first, he was confused, then his memories flushed through his mind of the night before. Well, all of the memories before the alcohol was consumed. However, before he could even begin to become upset he was greeted with a splitting headache.

He rolled to his side with a groan, looking for his glasses. He felt around and found a cup. He sat up to look at it properly, and as he squinted he realised it was a glass of water, and next to it were painkillers. He knocked them down quickly then turned around to try to get back to sleep.

Four more knocks woke Kuroko once more from his slumber. He groaned again, standing up from the futon and walked slowly to the front door. He opened it to find… no one? He looked down though to see a letter, addressed to him in elegant writing. Who knew he was here other than Aomine?

He frowned as he observed the letter in its entirety. He shut the door slowly, locking it again and sitting back down on the futon. He unfolded the letter and began to read.

 

_My Dearest Gem,_

_Nothing could compare to the beautiful diamonds that shine in your eyes._

_The way your blue hair bounces, it appears soft to the touch. Oh, how I yearn for you._

_I see you have had a falling out with your roommate. You needn’t fret, for I shall take care of you._

_You do not require these so-called friends, only I for you. And only you for I. Our love shall be timeless._

_The time will come shortly. I shall see you soon, my angel._

_With deepest longing, The Emperor._

 

Even if this really was the criminal mastermind and serial killer, The Emperor, Kuroko couldn’t even care in this moment.

He walked to the bathroom, locked it and read the letter again. And again. Then once more. He sighed and looked up to see his smiling face in the mirror, only to frown when seeing a badly drawn moustache above his lips.

“Mayuzumi-kun, you’ve made a bad decision…”

 

-

 

Kuroko received many more letters from the Emperor over the next week. Each one sweeter than the last. Sometimes they even arrived at his workplace, and he would feel the rush and excitement from reading a letter from a criminal inside a police station. He had developed a soft spot for the Emperor, and he started to look forward to the letters. He seemed to always know what was going on and how he felt and while he was mildly freaked out, he was also amazed. Who was this amazing person, who cared enough about him to send him countless letters and words of encouragement? The Emperor cared about Kuroko, unlike that jerk, Aomine… 

He was still unsure of what to do concerning their argument. Aomine hadn’t tried to contact him, nor had he come to visit him. Then again, Kuroko hadn’t tried to visit him either. He felt sad, he was so attached to Aomine, he’d tell him his problems and Aomine would offer him support and vice versa. But, the hole in his heart had been filled by The Emperor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts? Opinions? I'm very excited for the next chapter!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this is my favourite chapter that I've written so far. But, I will give some warnings. So, warning for attempted rape, violence and murder in this chapter. Be safe, lovelies!! <3

His heavy footsteps echoed throughout the empty halls as Mayuzumi walked closer to Akashi’s office. He sighed grumpily, “Why is this stupid child summoning me to his office _again?_ ” He knocked intemperately against the large mahogany doors.

“Enter,” he heard Akashi’s voice answer.

Mayuzumi pushed the door open and stomped inside. He flopped onto a chair in front of Akashi and frowned at him expectantly.

“Tetsuya is at your house.”

“Yes, and?”

“I must thank you for informing me, he’s beginning to grow attached to ‘The Emperor’.”

“How? From what I know, you haven’t made contact since the party?”

“I have been sending him letters. He is weak right now and his defences are low, I will be the one to build him up, then break him. He will rely on me completely and be at my mercy,” Akashi smirked.

“You will ruin that boy… And I can’t do anything to stop you.”

“You understand well, I’m impressed. But I must disagree, I would never do anything to hurt Tetsuya. That boy is already mine, nothing will keep me from him, Chihiro. You wouldn’t want me as an enemy. _Remember that,_ ” warned Akashi.

“Yes sir.”

 

-

 

Kuroko startled in his chair as he heard Mayuzumi barging through their front door.

“Come on Kuroko, I need a fucking drink. Let’s go to a bar,” Mayuzumi shouted as he walked to his bedroom to change out of his stuffy suit. “Fucking Akashi” he mumbled under his breath.

“I don’t want to accompany you to a bar…” Kuroko stated, “Last time I drank ended up in quite the disaster and I wish for history to not repeat itself.”

“Shut up with your sensible thinking, I wanna get drunk.”

 Kuroko sighed, it would probably be unsafe to let Mayuzumi go to a bar alone. Kuroko might as well join him if only to help him out when he would inevitably get himself into trouble. “Fine, I’ll come.”

“Ha, yeah. I’m glad you came to terms with that because you were coming anyway,” Mayuzumi laughed.

 

They got to the bar, which turned out to be more of a lively club than an actual bar. Mayuzumi was greeted by many people, assumingly regulars of the club, as he waltzed in. Kuroko timidly followed Mayuzumi, stepping over a small puddle of indeterminable liquid.

He plopped down into a bar stool next to Mayuzumi, ordering their drinks from the bartender that looked as if she’d rather not be there. While Kuroko ordered a martini, Mayuzumi ordered a gin and tonic.

One sip of his martini and he was cringing. Maybe next time without vodka. He placed down his glass and swivelled away to look around, well, to find his friend who had obviously left Kuroko to himself. He sighed and sat back down at the bar stool. The bartender gave him a pitying look, which Kuroko totally didn’t need. Did he?

He took another sip of his martini and nibbled on the olive. Gross, olives were gross, what was he doing? Maybe he’d be better off leaving, Mayuzumi was an adult, he didn’t need Kuroko babysitting him. Kuroko would apologise in the morning. He pushed his drink to the side and as he was about to stand up, the bartender walked over and slid another drink in front of Kuroko. Kuroko was confused, until the bartender pointed to a tall blonde waving and smiling at Kuroko from a table across the room.

He swivelled around, pressing a hand to his red cheeks. What the fuck?

He decided it should be safe enough now for him to try and take a quick peek at the person who had bought him a drink. A he turned he noticed said man walking over. Kuroko whipped his head back around, throwing his head backward to take gulp of his drink. A bit of liquid courage wouldn’t hurt. Would it?

“Hey, I’m Nathan. I saw you sitting her all by yourself and noticed that I haven’t seen you around before. I’m guessing you’re new to this club?”

“Kuroko. And yes, I’m not too familiar with clubs… I usually try to avoid them,” Kuroko shouted, trying to speak over the loud music playing.

“Oh, hey sorry, I’m not very good with Japanese. Or the culture. But, I do know something in America that’s the same here,” he smirked flirtatiously, winking in the process.

Kuroko smiled politely despite the growing discomfort with the man’s advances. He gulped down the rest of his drink and starts to feel a light buzz.

“Another one for the babe,” Nathan ordered the bartender.

Kuroko sighed and closed his eyes. What had he gotten himself into, why didn’t he just decline the offer? When he opened his eyes, Nathan was handing him yet another drink. Kuroko downed it in one and dragged Nathan away from the bar. He needed to loosen up, he was too tense.

“Let’s dance.”

Not having ever danced before, especially at this kind of event, Kuroko was nervous. He heaved a deep breath before he began to sway his hips slowly to the beat of the music, stretching his hands up onto Nathan’s tall shoulders as Nathan reciprocated by gripping Kuroko’s waist tightly. Kuroko turned his nose up at the unpleasant smell of sweaty and inebriated college students rubbed up against each other, catching Nathan and Kuroko in the mix.

Nathan bought Kuroko a small glass of water and he sculled it between pants, dancing had tired him out. 

Back in the crowd, Nathan had started grinding into Kuroko’s backside, moaning in his ear. Kuroko tried to protest but his movements felt sluggish and he couldn’t seem to find his mouth to articulate the words. He was confused as to how he was even back on the dancefloor in the first place.

Kuroko could feel Nathan’s obvious erection rubbing against his lower back, but he felt too exhausted and confused to protest.

“Wanna go outside, baby? You look dizzy,” he purred into Kuroko’s ear. Kuroko didn’t reply as he was dragged towards an alley exit.

Sleepy, Kuroko just wanted to go home and sleep. Who was dragging him outside again? Nat? Matt? Oh well…

“I jus’ wanna go home,” Kuroko slurred as (Matt?) settled him into an empty alleyway.

Nathan knelt in front of him and began to stroke his sweaty hair. Kuroko felt irritated by it, so he threw his hand out in an attempt to move the hand. But Kuroko’s hand wasn’t moving, it was still by his side and it wouldn’t move. His fingers twitched and he clenched his fist, but that was all he could do. He tried to move, tried to speak and scream, hoping that someone would see and realise what was about to happen… But he couldn’t.

He sat there, clenching his teeth, eyes shut.

“Hmm, you seem to realise what you’ve gotten yourself into, silly boy…” Nathan murmured to himself.

How could he not see this coming? He was a police officer for fucks sake, he should have seen the signs.

Nathan slowly pushed Kuroko down onto his back as Kuroko let out a small, fearful whimper, “Tsk, you know, noises like that just turn me on more,” he growled lowly into Kuroko’s throat.

Nathan pulled off Kuroko’s pants, swearing about how tight and difficult they were to pull off. Kuroko couldn’t even see anymore; a black abyss was all that awaited him when he opened his eyes. Why wasn’t he more careful? He’d had so many lectures and lessons from guardians, teachers, bosses and friends. He was in the fucking police force! It was his fault, he decided. He couldn’t blame anyone but himself. He deserved this.

He hears the clicks and slide of a belt being taken off, then the sound of a zipper, but it was all fuzzy and he wasn’t sure if that’s really what he was hearing.

In that split moment, he thought about Aomine. He could die from bleeding out or from the drug. He would die without even getting to apologise to him.

A hand caressed his lips and with the last of his strength, he bit it as hard as he could before a large hand was slamming Kuroko against the brick wall of the alleyway.

Then, he fell unconscious.

 

-

 

“Akashi”

“Yeah-Akashi. Get here as fast as possible okay? Kuroko is in trouble, we’re at XXX bar!”

‘Call disconnected’

“He’s going to be _pissed_.” Is the first thing Mayuzumi says after he watches some blond asshole drag Kuroko out of the bar.

 

Akashi was **_fuming_**. Kise and Akashi had arrived at the scene just as the assaulter took his tiny dick out of his briefs.

He had no chance against The Emperor’s wrath.

He was tackled by Kise who put him in a painful-looking headlock. He was begging for forgiveness as Akashi approached him, a deadly look on his face.

“Aw, cute. You look so scared!” Akashi laughed, amusement showing on his face.

“Pl—ash”

“Shut your filthy mouth,” Kise growled, shoving the foreigner’s face into the asphalt, twisting his arms behind his back.

Akashi was walking slowly, making each footstep of his polished footsteps sound loud throughout the alleyway. He stopped, kneeling and dragging a gentle hand down the side of Kuroko’s face. He looked too pale.

Akashi wouldn’t have time to play around, it seemed.

With a soft kiss to Kuroko’s pale cheek, Akashi was continuing forward, the darkness from the night sky creating an eerie shadow over Akashi’s face, his eyes wide and alert.

“Do you think what you did is deserving of mercy? Oh, you don’t? Then why are you crying, pathetic vermin.”

Nathan was sobbing now, shaking his head pathetically and bleeding from the painful shove Kise inflicted.

“I punish those who I deem worthy, those who commit crimes and get away with it. Those who defile innocent women, men and children. Nathan Pollard, you were already on my list. The only reason you’re not already dead is because I’ve had more… important rats to deal with. But, tonight your priority has risen to number one! How exciting, right?”

Kise whispered something into Nathan’s ear, pulling his hair roughly, forcing him to make eye-contact with his certain death.

 “You touched something. Something that wasn’t yours. You see, The Emperor doesn’t like sharing…” Akashi shook his head slowly, pouting childishly, a smirk quickly replacing it.

“Please… stop. I’ll do anything you want!”

Akashi raised an eyebrow, grinning deviously. “Anything?”

“Anything…”

“Oh? Then, try not to scream while I disembowel you, okay?”

 

 

“We had better take poor Kurokocchi back to the mansion for Midorimacchi to check, we need to make sure he hasn’t been injured!” Kise cried, his heart pounding.

Akashi nodded. He placed his bloodied knives into Kise’s shaking hands. He knelt in front of Kuroko and covered his modesty before collecting Kuroko’s ripped shirt and placed it in Kise’s hands along with the knives. Wiping the blood off his hands, he unbuttoned his own shirt to place over Kuroko’s shoulders.

“My angel” he whispered. “I will protect you.” He stood with Kuroko cradled in his arms.

 

-

 

Soft. Ouch. How could it hurt when it’s so soft...? Wait.

“What?”

Kuroko woke up in a large comfortable bed. He snuggled back under the soft blankets, only to feel a painful pull at his wrist. Unfolding the doona, he uncovered a needle sticking into a vein in his hand. What?

“Ah that, it may be sore for a while. It was necessary though,” a low and unfamiliar voice interrupted his thoughts.

He startled and turned to see a tall man with green hair and glasses holding a clipboard.

“W-where am I?” Kuroko asked timidly.

“The Akashi Mansion,” he replied curtly.

“What?! How did I get here? What happened last night? He raised his voice and tried to sit up only to be pushed back down by a man with raven hair and silver-blue eyes.

“Uh uh, I don’t think so cutie,” the man giggled.

“Akashi brought you here, apparently you drank too much liquor and passed out in an alleyway, only to hit your head on the way down. Tsk, such a stupid thing to do. Anyway, Akashi found you and decided to not leave you to die.” The green haired man answered.

The raven nodded.

“Oh… okay. Who are you two then?”

“Oh, how rude of us! I am Takao Kazunari, your nurse, and this is Shin-Chan! He’s your doctor,” Takao smiled.

“Shin-Chan?”

“It’s Midorima Shintarou, and Takao! How many times have I told you not to call me that?” he shouted, much to Kuroko’s displeasure.

Takao only snickered as Midorima sighs.

“Your head is fine, and you don’t have alcohol poisoning. The worst you’ll have is some bruising and a headache.”

Kuroko nodded.

“You most likely won’t remember anything from last night from drinking so much alcohol. That shouldn’t be a problem as long as this doesn’t become a hobby,” Midorima scolded.

“One more thing before I leave,” Kuroko nodded again, showing he was listening.

“Take this medication for any headaches, it stops swelling and is stronger than your normal over the counter pain-killers. Should help better than flimsy Advil will,” Midorima instructed.

Kuroko accepted the bottle and waved as the two left the room.

He took this moment alone to survey his surroundings. He was in a large king double bed with red silken sheets, it was the room he was brought to that night at the fundraiser. He also noticed that he was wearing a large grey cotton shirt and some new-looking boxers. He wondered where his clothes went.

On the bedside table was a glass of water, condensation from the cold liquid making the glass wet, and a picture frame. It was of a young boy with crimson red hair and red eyes with what looked like his mother. The boy was sat on his mother’s lap looking like the happiest child in the world. Kuroko found himself smiling subconsciously.

“Tetsuya,” said a warm breathy voice.

Akashi Seijuurou.

Kuroko turned his head to see Akashi leaning up against the doorframe.

“Akashi-kun. It’s nice to see you again,” he bowed slightly, well, as much as he could in his condition.

“Yes, it is. Though, I’d rather not see you like this,” he frowned.

“I heard you found me drunk, passed out in an alleyway…?” Kuroko asked.

Akashi silently thanked Midorima for not telling Kuroko the truth.

“Yes, I did. Now tell me, what a beautiful angel, such as yourself, was doing in that gross alleyway?” he asked carefully and gentle.

Kuroko shrugged, “All I remember is being dragged to that bar by my flatmate… I don’t remember wanting to drink, so I’m not sure how I got into the alley…” he mumbled.

If Mayuzumi wasn’t so valuable to Akashi, if he wasn’t as compliant in helping Akashi obtain Tetsuya’s trust, then he’d already be dead.

Akashi walked purposefully towards Kuroko and took a seat next to Kuroko on the bed. He leant in close.

“A beautiful gem like you shouldn’t be out alone in the dark like that. But you needn’t worry.” He leaned in closer and Kuroko’s eyes widened.

 

“I’ll take care of you, my _Empress._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you enjoyed!! I really enjoyed writing Akashi's... activities?   
> Hope to see you next chapter.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof sorry for not uploading yesterday, I was super busy all day! Enjoy the chapter!! Kuroko is finally in Akashi's mansion ;)

“I’ll take care of you, my _Empress._ ”

Empress? Wait… Was Akashi-kun…?

“You… You’re the one sending me those notes… You’re the Emperor!” Kuroko exclaimed.

Akashi looks down, a dangerous smirk on his face.

“Such a clever boy,” he mumbled, eyes lidded.

Kuroko became aware of their proximity and began to shuffle away until he felt an almost painful grip on his forearm.

“Tetsuya, I will never hurt you, nor will I let another harm you,” he stated, “I _will_ take care of you.” He lifted his head to stare lovingly into Kuroko’s wide blue eyes. Akashi’s eyes shined with longing and something akin to possessiveness.

“I… I am confused.” Kuroko whimpered as he ripped his arm from Akashi’s strong grip.

“Oh? How so?” he asked, gently stroking Kuroko’s cheek with his newly freed hand.

“Why did you send me that suit and that… lingerie? Why am I alive… why haven’t you killed me?”

Akashi hummed softly, leaning away for a moment. “I’ve known you for a while, Tetsuya. You… are my fire. I am the moth to your flame, you interest me, you intrigue me. I am deeply in love with everything that makes you… you. I sent you that suit and lingerie because I wanted to treat you, little one. The suits in your closet were not even close to the high standard that you deserve, so I decided to reward you. The lingerie was a treat to myself in all honesty, it looked absolutely delicious hugging your beautiful hips, just as I thought it would,” he chuckled.

Kuroko nodded, brows furrowed as he took in the new information.

“So, if you’re so ‘in love’ with me, then why am I only hearing about this now…? And you said you’ve known me for a while… I don’t remember meeting you other than at the party?”

“Well… I’ve known you for a long time, but you haven’t known me. I have had my sights set on you for two years, and it’s been the hardest two years of my life. I wanted to snatch you away the very day I saw you, but I knew that wouldn’t do,” Akashi laid beside Kuroko, drawing idle shapes onto Kuroko’s clothed stomach, “I needed to get to know you, I needed you to like me. So, I didn’t introduce myself until I knew that I would be able to care for you. I befriended your friends, I set up a room in my mansion for you, I found out where you live, I watched you walk home. I know you, Tetsuya. And I am tired of keeping it a secret.” At this, Akashi smiled and sat up, straddling Kuroko’s waist, “You’re mine, my beautiful jewel.”

“This is too sudden… The most popular bachelor in all of Japan is a serial murderer and has been stalking me for the past two years, and is now telling me that he’s in love with me? I must have a worse head injury that suspected. Midorima-kun! I am very sick!” Kuroko rambled aimlessly, shaking his head as tears filled his eyes.

“Aw, it’s okay my love, you’re overwhelmed. That’s alright, I’ll be patient with you…”

“No…” Kuroko mumbled, “I need to go home. Oh… I need to go back to Mayuzumi-kun’s house. He’ll be worried.”

“I don’t think so my love, I have waited ever so patiently to finally obtain you. You won’t leave me, will you?” he frowned, “If you try to leave, I might have to punish you.”

“B-but, what about my friends? I must go to work… I have a life, Akashi-kun!” he said, terror in his eyes.

“Quit your job Tetsuya, I have plenty of funds to support us for the rest of our lives. Like I said, I will take care of you.”

He was crazy.

“W-what about Aomine-kun? What about my friends...? They will worry!” he tried, his hand gripping Akashi’s thigh.

Akashi suddenly looked angry, pinning Kuroko’s hands over his head.

“You don’t need them. You only need me.” Akashi spoke calmly, collected. Tears were running freely down Kuroko’s cheeks.

“Oh love, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. You’re safe with me,” he assured as he hugged Kuroko. He stroked Kuroko’s hair and Kuroko couldn’t help but lean into the touch.

“That’s it, just relax,” Akashi whispered comfortingly.

Kuroko hummed, he was so exhausted. He allowed himself to relax.

He laid his head softly onto Akashi’s shoulder, sure that Akashi wouldn’t mind.

He didn’t mind, not one bit. Akashi didn’t think it would be that easy to gain Kuroko’s trust. He was probably very tired and in need of a proper sleep, and when Kuroko woke up next, it was possible for him to become aggressive, but Akashi was enjoying Tetsuya’s docile form as he rested on his shoulder. As Kuroko’s breath evened out Akashi laid back him down onto the bed.

Thick luscious lips. The way his soft blue hair fell gently over his eyes, covered in smooth porcelain skin. Slim, yet thick thighs that Akashi wanted to squeeze and bite and bruise. He wanted to mark Kuroko, show everyone who he belonged to.

He felt as if he could ravish the boy.

 **But he wouldn’t**. At least… not _yet_.

 

-

 

Mayuzumi didn’t want to hand his friend over to the literal incarnation of the devil, but he had to. He knew he wouldn’t be strong enough to kill the guy assaulting Kuroko, and no authorities would’ve come as fast as Akashi did. If he had tried to intervene, they both would have ended up violated. He knew Akashi was the best choice in that situation, so why did he feel so overwhelmingly guilty?

Maybe because Kuroko, someone who meant a lot to him, someone who was his only real friend, was now in the hands of someone who wanted to literally _own_ him. Wanted to have him all to himself. He knew what Akashi was capable of. He had fought Akashi himself.

When the great Akashi Seijuurou came to ‘save’ him, well, that’s what Akashi called it, Mayuzumi had rebelled. He had taken a swipe at his face, aiming to slit Akashi’s flesh open with a dagger, only to end up unarmed with his hands behind his back with his own dagger pressed into his throat as he was thrown to the ground. It was too quick for Mayuzumi to see, let alone fight back. He couldn’t help but accept Akashi’s offer to join Akashi’s band of criminals. Though, Akashi only wanted him for his extraordinary lock picking and ability at blending into tricky situations, not his less-than-average knife handling skills. So, he supposed it was okay.

To Kuroko, he was an assistant at some company who spent all of his time reading light novels and watching anime, but that was only a cover-up. In reality, he was one of Akashi’s subordinate’s in what Mayuzumi liked to call ‘Akashi’s Crime Crew’. Akashi had assigned him to befriend Kuroko and gain his trust, which he did, but he didn’t think about how much he would grow to treasure that friendship.

It was saddening to think what would happen to him now.

 

 

Mayuzumi strode through the Akashi mansion, looking for the man himself. He knew Kuroko was there, but for some reason he guessed that there’d be consequences if he decided to talk to him without Akashi’s permission.

He found Akashi sitting in front of a fireplace, leisurely drinking a cup of tea. “Akashi!”

Akashi turned to face Mayuzumi, a face of boredom. Mayuzumi swallowed his courage before it was gone with his lunch. No matter how much he respected Akashi, he wouldn’t admit how, to put it crudely, scared shitless he was of him.

“I want to see Kuroko,” he demanded, less forcefully than he had wanted.

“No, let him rest. I will permit you to see him when he wakes up,” his calm voice replied.

“But—wait, really?” Mayuzumi asked quizzically.

Akashi hummed, “Yes. I assume you’re worried about him, I know that you two are friends.”

“Oh… Thank you sir.”

“He seemed distressed. I think someone familiar may help calm him down.” he stated.

“Yes sir, I will go check on him, but if he’s asleep I won’t disturb him.”

Akashi didn’t answer after that, so Mayuzumi took his leave. He made his way around the mansion, assuming that Kuroko would be in the master bedroom, Akashi’s bedroom. Surprisingly, Kuroko was awake when he got there.

“Kuroko…”

Kuroko’s head snapped up and his eyes met Mayuzumi’s.

“Mayuzumi-kun,” he whispered, “Do you know? Have you known all this time?”

Mayuzumi could guess what Kuroko meant. He nodded.

“I have. I was… assigned to be your friend. But, that was only at first, I truly treasure your friendship now. But, I still have a duty, and Akashi is my boss. I do what he commands me to do, no exceptions.”

“It’s okay, Mayuzumi-kun. I know a fake friend when I see one. But… does that mean you’re the reason why Akashi knew I was at your house?”

A nod. “Yes.”

“You don’t really work at a company, do you, Mayuzumi-kun?”

“I do, actually. But it’s Akashi’s company, Akashi-corp. But I do a lot more than the typical assistant.”

“Oh,” Kuroko sighed, “Does that mean I am… stuck here?”

“Yes, you aren’t able to leave. I know it’s hard to accept it. But, Akashi is a powerful man. He could have everyone you know wiped out and have no witnesses in less than a day. He’s not crazy, just extremely smart. He knows how to get what he wants without having to lift a finger. He has people like me to do a lot of things for him.  Hell, he’s the most popular bachelor in all of Japan, no one would believe you if you accused him of anything.”

“Then… what do I do… My friends… my job. What about the life I’ll have to leave behind?”

“ **Get**. **Him**. **To**. **Trust**. **You**. All Akashi wants is to see you happy, so get him to trust you, then tell him you miss your friends. He’ll let you see them, I’m sure of it.”

Kuroko couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“You’re saying I just give up? Hope that he’ll trust me enough to grant me _permission_ to leave? That’s not what I want, Mayuzumi!!” he shouted. “It… it makes sense and I think I could do it… I’m scared…” A tear fell to the sheets.

Mayuzumi took purposeful steps toward Kuroko and embraced him tightly.

“Just give it a try… You might end up liking your life here?” he mumbled, trying to console his hurting friend.

Kuroko broke down into sobs

 

-

 

“Tetsu’s missing?!” Aomine shouted, enraged, “I thought he was staying at his friend’s house? I should have never kicked him out. He just wanted to help me out… now he’s missing. And with someone who disappears on the daily who now hasn’t been seen for a week, it’s going to be ten times harder to find him.”

He slammed his fist down on the desk with a curse, knocking a cup of coffee onto the floor. It shattered making Furihata, who sadly had the job of delivering the news, run away.

“Daiki… You need to calm down, I know how much you care for him, but you won’t be able to find him if you’re mad. You need to sit down and think.” Kagami stated. He was scared for Kuroko’s safety too, but he knew Aomine worked his best when he was calm.

Aomine sighed, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his eyes.

“Sorry Kags. Thanks,” he mumbled before standing up to clean up the mess of the coffee.

“Here, I’ll make you a tea. Apparently, they’re more calming then coffee’s. Then we can get to work trying to find him,” Kagami soothed, already on his way to the Touou breakroom.

Aomine mumbled to himself, “I will find you Tetsu… I’m so sorry.”

And if a tear slipped into the puddle of brown on the floor, no one noticed.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a lot of chapters ready to post, and the only reason as to why there is a break in between chapters is because of my forgetful mind xD Sorry about that! Enjoy the chapter <3

“You don’t need to work, I provide for you now. I have more than enough resources to last a billion lifetimes. You’re mine to own, do you understand me?”

“…Yes, Akashi-kun.”

Kuroko had decided. He was going to escape, and if that meant following Mayuzumi’s advice and obeying Akashi’s orders, then so be it. Kuroko had already tried to reason with him to no success, Akashi had denied all of his pleas to see his friends. But now, Kuroko had a plan. He was going to do everything that Akashi wanted of him and gain his trust. Be the perfect little angel.

“Good boy.”

Kuroko felt electricity prickle down his spine at the gaze that was settled on him. Akashi was unnerving; heterochromatic eyes stared him down and invoked fear. Kuroko had a plan to escape, but how in the _hell_ was he going to pull it off with this guy watching over him?

“…Akashi-Kun?”

But, that didn’t mean he was going to be compliant _all the time…_

A hand reached into Kuroko’s messenger bag, he felt around until he felt what he was looking for. Sweaty hands gripped the object. Kuroko took a deep breath.

“Hm. Yes, Tetsu—"

In one swift glide, Kuroko had attempted to end Akashi’s life with a pocketknife he kept in his bag, only to grunt in pain when his wrist was caught by an experienced hand. Squeezed in a too-tight grasp, Kuroko had no choice but to unhand his weapon. Kuroko winced at the sound of the blade hitting the floor.

Deadly, that was the word that Kuroko would use to describe Akashi in this moment. Eyes blazing, Kuroko bowed his head, from fear, shame or submission, Kuroko didn't know.

“I wouldn’t try that again if I were you,” he warned, “I was allowing you to keep this,” Akashi picked up the weapon, twirling it around his fingers, “however, now I think I’ll hold onto it.”

Kuroko nodded, and Akashi left the room. He didn’t look up when he heard that familiar heavy click. Locked.

It was probably a bad decision. No, it was the worst decision he could have made because now Akashi didn’t trust him to be good. He didn’t want to kill Akashi. He didn’t.

But he missed his friends. He hated being cooped up inside of the bedroom at all times except for meal times, with nothing but a book to keep him company. Akashi had confiscated his phone, he wasn’t sure when.

He wanted to go home.

 

-

 

“Is it time yet, boss?”

“…Almost. Have you gotten what I asked for?” the baritone voice growled.

“Y-y-yes boss! It’s all here in this folder!”

He snatched it from his subordinate’s hands, and he sneered.

“Good, you’re excused.” And his worker ran away, the boss was someone to fear.

He chuckled lowly, “Kuroko Tetsuya, I will have you soon enough.”

 

-

 

Kuroko woke up slowly, then all at once. A face he recognised was an inch from his face.

“Kuroko-chan!” Takao, he remembered him to be his nurse, shouted happily.

Kuroko jolted at being yelled at so early in the morning.

“Is something the matter?” he mumbled, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“Akashi-Sama wants you down for breakfast.”

“Okay… I’ll be down soon.”

Takao nodded and skipped out the door. Kuroko sighed, he stood and gazed around the room, the night before he was moved into a spare room, as he refused to stay in Akashi’s room any longer. There were three doors, one to the hallway, one to his closet and one to the bathroom. He twisted the doorknob to the closet and was unsurprised to see many of his clothes hung in closet. Akashi must have sent someone to retrieve them. He pulled out some simple jeans and a t-shirt. After showering in the blissfully warm water, Kuroko dressed himself and trudged downstairs through the luxurious house, noticing smell of Akashi lingering around each corner.

The mansion was fairly large, but he was able to find his way to the dining room by the smell of the food wafting from the kitchen nearby. As he heard his stomach grumble he shoulders the door open, one hand cradling his empty stomach.

“Hungry, Tetsuya?”

Akashi sat in the closest chair to Kuroko, facing away from him. Kuroko stilled, then walked to the other end of the dining table, feeling Akashi’s burning gaze frying holes in the back of his head. The boy sat and stared at the empty plates before him. The food wasn’t ready yet, so Kuroko couldn’t ignore Akashi in favour for shoving his breakfast down his throat.

He peered up from the table, contemplating Akashi’s expecting gaze, in answer he mumbled a soft ‘Yes’. Akashi didn’t seem to like the answer, but he didn’t ask for more, so Kuroko waited for his meal silently.

The silence was awkward. Kuroko didn’t want to make conversation, and Akashi wasn’t trying for anything either. The intimidating man seemed content in raking his eyes up and down Kuroko as if _he_ was Akashi’s breakfast.

Akashi swirled his drink and took a sip before placing it down.

The silence was deafening.

Kuroko decided to break it.

“Being in love with me is not a good enough reason to kidnap me and isolate me from society. Why couldn’t you just ask me on a date? I had the most revoltingly sweet schoolgirl crush on you and you had me on the palm of your hand. You could have had me then and there! But now, you’ve killed people and tried to take me away from not only my friends, but from my parents’ justice. I don’t work so hard just because I can, you know, I have a motive. I—"

“Stop right there, and sit down,” Akashi cut in.

Kuroko was panting, rage painting his usually docile features.

Kuroko sat, not because Akashi told him to, but because he felt so dizzy from everything.

Once again, it was silent, and Akashi took another sip of his drink.

“I… I’m not sure what my feelings are for you…” he whispered.

Breakfast was brought. It’s almost as if Akashi knew Kuroko wasn’t going to have the best morning, because the chef brought in a large vanilla milkshake and placed it right in front of Kuroko, catching him off guard. The rest of breakfast consisted of steamed rice and miso soup, with a large plate of grilled fish and nori, kobachi and a green salad sat next to a pot of tofu soup.

Akashi seemed to be digging into the tofu and rice, so Kuroko began eating as well.

The only sound that resounded through the dining room was the clink of cutlery hitting the porcelain plates and small slurps.

Kuroko couldn’t help but be embarrassed for raising his voice and even admitting his crush on the man across from him. He didn’t even realise that he fancied him until he had blurted it out.

Kuroko sighed.

And suddenly, Kuroko realised, he was stuck in the same house as an infamous serial killer, and he was a police officer. He could at least try to get some of his motives out of him.

“Why do you do it?” he spoke, not daring to make eye contact.

“…I didn’t think you’d be brave enough to ask such a question just yet, see, this is why you’re my favourite!” Akashi laughed.

Akashi placed his chopsticks down, lacing his fingers together before resting his chin on top of them.

“You always exceed my expectations, Tetsuya. But, I don’t think you really want to know why. It may ruin your little goody two-shoes attitude, because you see, not everything is black and white, my pet.”

Oh, how much more intrigued Kuroko was, he had just assumed that Akashi was insane, or had a personal reason as to why he was so against the innocent. But telling by what Akashi had said, Kuroko was very wrong in his assumptions.

“I want to know.”

“Hm… how about this. You do something to earn my motive, and then I’ll tell you!”

Akashi unlaced his fingers and began to tap his fingers, smirking knowingly across the table at Kuroko. Kuroko stilled, his heart racing and hair standing up its ends at the utterly predatory look in Akashi’s eyes. Kuroko had to remind himself, he was sitting across from an extremely smart, cunning and skilled man who had killed dozens of people in cold blood. Akashi Seijuurou was _not_ someone to toy with.

“… What do you have in mind?”

Akashi giggled. Fucking giggled.

“I want you to quit your job, and come work for me at Akashi-Corp, I hear you’re very talented at sorting out paperwork,” he teased.

Kuroko’s eyes widened. It was a hefty price to pay, he wanted to see his friends, but he didn’t want to quit his job… He hadn’t been there in a week, he wondered if his job was even available anymore.

Fuck it.

“…If I do that, will you allow me to see my friends? I guarantee that if you allow me to see them regularly then my staying here will become a lot more comfortable,” Kuroko bargained, hands clenching under the table as he spoke in perfectly practised monotone.

“Hm… why not? Come work for me and I’ll allow you to see your so called ‘friends’, and I will tell you my motives.”

“Deal.”

That night when he made it to his room all Kuroko could focus on was his friends, and how excited he was to finally be able to see them again. He sunk down against the floor, sighing deeply.

“I’ll see you soon, Aomine-kun.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cough cough,,, new chapter PALS! Please enjoy!!! There's some spicy things in this chapter ;) wink wonk.
> 
> Also, I have removed the attempted sexual assault scene from this chapter because I didn't think it fit Akashi at all.

“Oh, my jewel, my angel, how I adore you.”

Kuroko was sitting in Akashi’s lap, fingers running through his hair, his face pressed against Akashi’s toned chest.

Akashi had seemed like he had had a rough day, his eye bags weighed down heavily on porcelain skin, and Kuroko was worried about him. He had brewed Akashi a green tea to calm him, then sat him down on the couch, and somehow here they were. It was comforting to hear the sound of Akashi’s heart, the steady beat helped Kuroko remember that Akashi was human, and not just a devil without a soul.

Although sometimes it was hard to believe.

But tomorrow was a special day, Kuroko would finally be able to see his friends again. He felt himself smile against Akashi’s chest. Aomine, Kagami, Furihata, Riko, and the rest of the gang… He was upset that he would have to lie about his previous whereabouts, but he was willing to lie to his friends if he would be able to tell them that he was alive.

“Do you think they care?”

The question caught Kuroko off guard, how would Akashi know what he was thinking? He leaned away from Akashi to look him in the eye, it didn’t do much though, Kuroko couldn’t sense any emotion other than the love and affection that was directed towards him.

“You’re invisible. They don’t care about you. But, I do. I believe they aren’t very interested in your company anymore, perhaps they are relieved that you’re gone.”

Kuroko bristled, and pushed away from Akashi. Was he right? Did his friends even know that he was gone? He was invisible, a phantom, had they noticed?

Questions raced through Kuroko’s mind, never ending. He felt cold.

Why was it so cold?

Kuroko felt a heavy wave of loneliness crash over him, overwhelming him.

“Why would you say that? You knew it would make me feel insecure.”

“You are my world, my one and only love. I need to know everything about you, because I enjoy seeing you happy. But I also love how small and frightful you look right now,” Akashi gazed over Kuroko, like a predator to its prey, “You stuck out to me, you’re the plainest person I’ve ever met, yet when I look at you… I feel like my dull world has been splashed with colour. I get shivers thinking about you, and from the moment I first saw you, I knew I had to have you.”

Kuroko was flustered, it wasn’t what he was expecting, and he was blushing all the way up his neck in red uneven splotches. But he’d die before he willingly let Akashi bathe in it. So, he turned from Akashi’s watchful gaze, and walked away.

After all, tomorrow was a special day.

 

-

 

It was finally the day, yet Kuroko felt awful. It wasn’t as if he was ill, he felt fine in that regard, great even.

Akashi had been pouting all morning, which looked ridiculous on the usually intimidating man, but he couldn’t help but feel guilty for wanting to leave Akashi and go visit his friends.

He knew it was absurd to feel guilty, Akashi had kidnapped him and forced Kuroko to stay with him. It was just this feeling of dread and anxiety creeping into the back of his mind, whispering _‘You’d better watch out’_ over and over again. It was stressful. At one point in the morning, while Kuroko was readying himself for the day ahead, he thought of cancelling and not going, just to save himself the stress.

How silly of him.

He was going to see his friends, and he wasn’t going to let his nerves get the best of him. Kuroko sighed to himself as he fastened the last button on his shirt, guilt showering over him as he walked past Akashi, who looked quite upset.

He nodded to Akashi, a last effort to make him wipe that godforsaken pout off his face, and when he didn’t, and his face grew sadder, Kuroko walked over and gave Akashi a peck on the cheek. Then he was out the door, fast as lightning, but not before Akashi could call out to him, “Be back before 4:30, my love!”.

Oh, how he couldn’t wait to see his friends!

He just hoped that they would be excited to see him too.

 

No matter how many times Kuroko told Akashi that he didn’t need a limo to take him to the police department, Akashi refused and insisted that ‘Nothing but the best for my jewel’. Whatever that meant.

Kuroko arrived at Tokyo Police Department with tears in his eyes and a lump in his throat. He ripped the entrance door open and rushed through the main foyer, he left the voice shouting at him, most likely the receptionist, behind and barged through the door to Aomine’s office. Only to be left speechless.

It had only been a week and a half, and Aomine’s office was trashed. Coffee mugs and takeaway cups littered the desk and area around the small overflowing bin, unorganised papers laid everywhere, Kuroko noticed that majority of them were about him. And amongst the mess, Aomine was passed out over his desk, in a puddle of his own drool.

Kuroko could smell rotten food, yet he couldn’t spot any. Perhaps that was just Aomine’s odour, because it seemed as if he hadn’t showered once since Kuroko went missing.

“Aomine-kun… What have you done…?” Kuroko whispered.

Kuroko wanted to wake Aomine up, but judging by the dark circles under his eyes, he could really use the nap.

Kuroko shrugged off his jacket, and draped it over Aomine, even though he was much smaller and it barely covered Aomine’s broad shoulders.

“Tetsu…” A sleepy Aomine mumbled and snuggled into the jacket.

He felt his heart clench, so he turned away to find someone else. Perhaps he’d come across Kagami-kun?

“K-Kuroko!” He heard and not three seconds later and he was enveloped in a too-tight squeeze by none other than Kagami Taiga.

“Kagami-kun, I am happy to see you too, but you’re hurting me,” Kuroko choked out.

Kuroko could feel Kagami loosen his grip enough so that Kuroko could breathe, but not enough so that he could break free. (Not that he’d even want to).

“Where have you been!?” The redhead shouted, waking up Aomine in the process.

Kuroko sighed, but smiled, “Have a nice nap, Aomine-kun?”

He could hardly finish his sentence before he was being squeezed by two massive brutes. Two massive brutes that he had missed.

“I- Is this a dream? Am I going to wake back up in the lonely reality where my best friend disappeared right after an argument with me? Because Tetsu, if this is real life, then I want you to know that I am so sorry! I’m stupid and I’ve hated myself every single second since you walked out that door…” Aomine sobbed, wetting Kuroko’s shoulder in the process.

“I- I love you so much Tetsu, you’re the best friend I’ve ever had. And I never want to lose you like that ever again.”

“One, yes this is real life, two, I forgive you, I forgave you weeks ago, and three, you’re both hurting me again…”

Aomine laughed, so did Kagami. And Kuroko couldn’t help but join in.

Aomine’s office was cleaned and Kuroko was given a hard smack over the head by Riko, his quickly thought up excuse to her was ‘I went on a trip around Tokyo and forgot to tell anyone’.

And so, the three boys were finally reunited. But the question remained, “Tetsu, I know you, don’t give me that bullshit. Where were you really?”

Kuroko sighed. He did that a lot these days. He looked around, surveying the area, before dragging Aomine away into a private area.

“I can’t tell you, the person who took me is most likely listening to me right now,” said Kuroko, rubbing his palms over his eyes.

“That sick fucker… If you’re listening I want you to know that I will find you and put your disgusting ass in jail!”

Kuroko groaned, “Aomine-kun let me finish! I must quit my job here, I know it isn’t ideal, but I’m going to be working at Akashi-Corp. One of the people there are the person who kidnapped me. That’s all I can say.”

Kuroko checked his watch, it was already 4pm.

“I have to go, I live with them currently, I’ll tell you right now that I know firsthand how skilled you are, and if you follow me home, you won’t make it to tomorrow…”

Aomine’s eyes widened before he swore under his breath, “shit Tetsu, what have you gotten yourself into… Stay safe.”

Aomine put his hand up for a fist bump, which Kuroko gladly returned, his heart filling with warmth.

His friends really did love him.

 

-

 

“You’re late!” sung Akashi. It was 4:32.

“By two minutes,” Kuroko quipped. He didn’t feel like being teased by Akashi.

Kuroko walked past where Akashi was sat on an armchair. Kuroko thought he wasn’t going to have to see him for the rest of the night until he was roughly pushed against the wall by two strong hands. He flinched at the hard look in Akashi’s beautiful mismatched eyes.

“I believe I specifically told you to get here before 4:30… didn’t I? Don’t you think that deserves punishment?”

Kuroko shook his head, struggling against Akashi’s hold. He could see the heat in Akashi’s gaze. One of Akashi’s strong hands held Kuroko’s above his head, and the other traced circles down the back of Kuroko’s neck, where hair stood on its ends.

“Aw, look at that, you have goose bumps...”

Akashi murmured his words into Kuroko’s neck, startling Kuroko as he pushed a warm hand under the bottom of his button up. Kuroko shut his eyes, clenching his fists as Akashi’s hot breath tickled his throat. It smelled of mint.

“Akashi… stop.”

Akashi paid no attention to the words Kuroko spoke, he inhaled a deep breath, face still pushed into the shorter boy’s throat. He frowned, before licking a stripe up the inside of Kuroko’s throat, eliciting a whine from Kuroko.

“You smell like them. I won’t tolerate it,” he growled as he slid a knee in between Kuroko’s thighs, effectively caging him in. The hand that wasn’t holding Kuroko’s wrists captive rubbed soft circles over the boy’s hip bones.

“What do you mean?” Kuroko asked, gasping as Akashi scraped his teeth over Kuroko’s throat.

“I mean that you smell like those friends of yours. You let them touch you, didn’t you? Ah, I really don’t like sharing what’s _mine_ … so, I suppose I’ll just have to mark you as _mine,_ so they don’t become confused again.”

“Wha—Ah!” Kuroko cried out as Akashi bit into his neck, pulling the skin with his teeth. He nibbled at the flesh, sucking and biting at his leisure, Kuroko’s soft whimpers and moans doing nothing but excite him further. Kuroko wiggled and writhed under Akashi’s talented mouth, he could feel sweat beading on his forehead. He panted, moaning brokenly as Akashi bit particularly hard. He was squirming, grinding against Akashi’s thigh.

“Wow… so sensitive. You react so well…” Akashi murmured, his voice muffled as he continued to lap at the bitemarks on Kuroko’s neck.

The embarrassing sounds Akashi’s mouth made Kuroko blush further.

When Akashi finally pulled away, he groaned at the sight of the male underneath him. He was gasping for breath, his chest rising and falling unevenly. His face was red, the flush continuing down his throat and over his ears. Sweat rolled down his temples. And the bright red marks that were slowly deepening into purple looked delicious covering the boy’s throat. He looked completely and utterly wrecked, and Akashi had barely touched him.

“Look at you… so beautiful. Marked as mine.”

Kuroko forced a weak glare at Akashi. It had felt so good, he didn’t want it to stop.

Akashi pulled away from Kuroko, chuckling as Kuroko’s legs wobbled.

“Like a little lamb… cute,” he smirked.

Kuroko frowned. That was a punishment?

“You seem confused. Did you think that I would hurt you? I told you, little one, I won’t hurt you. Well, unless you beg for it.” Akashi winked, turning then leaving.

Kuroko was left in the entrance hall, legs wobbling and his heart pounding.

Kuroko tossed and turned in bed, he was having trouble falling asleep when he heard a knock at his door. It was late, who would need him this late?

“Come in,” Kuroko called through the door.

One of Akashi’s butlers opened the door, poking his head though the gap, “You will have your first day working at Akashi-Corp tomorrow, I have some clothes here that the master has prepared for you, you may wear them if you wish, he is giving you the choice.”

The servant bowed before exiting.

The outfit consisted of new-looking shoes that looked like converse, long jet black slacks that were ironed impeccably, a white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up at a three-quarter length with red accents to it, a pair of new glasses to match and lastly, a red tie—similar to the one he wore to the fundraising event—to tie the whole outfit together. He had to say, Akashi had really outdone himself.

On the very top of the pile was a new phone. Akashi was letting him have a phone, it was a sign that Kuroko was gaining Akashi’s trust. Unless it was bugged…

He smiled at the thought of Akashi browsing stores to buy this outfit especially for Kuroko.

Kuroko fell asleep that night, easier than he thought he would have.

 

-

 

“Kurokocchi!” an over-excited Kise shouted as he threw himself at the blue-haired male, hugging him harder than Akashi and Kuroko were okay with.

“Ah, Kise-kun, please get off me. I am pleased to see you too,” Kuroko replied, as calm as he could with the man-child draped over him. Akashi, who was standing beside Kuroko, was barely containing himself. He had predicted this would happen. At least Kuroko wouldn’t be too out of place there with some friends who weren’t the owner the company that majority of the employees were afraid of.

Kise did as Kuroko asked, then dragged him to see Momoi who was sitting behind the same desk that Kise had hurdled over.

“Tetsu-kun!” she gasped as she ran flawlessly in her heels, hugging Kuroko. Kuroko hugged her back, albeit awkwardly.

“Oh, I hope it’s okay if I call you Tetsu-kun… I’m sorry if I offended you,” she said, her happy demeanour changing to a sad and shameful one in an instant.

“It’s fine, I don’t mind at all.” Kuroko smiled at Momoi, making her blush and smile again before Akashi was rolling his eyes and ordering Kise and Momoi to show Kuroko to his work space.

With one last glance at Kuroko, Akashi was off, the other workers parting for Akashi, as if they were scared he would kill him if they stood in his path.

Kuroko was showed his workspace, which happened to be next to Mayuzumi’s desk and the door to Akashi’s office. He was told that his job wasn’t specified, but he was probably just going to be fetching coffee and food for Akashi so that Mayuzumi could focus more on answering calls and scheduling meetings. (Mayuzumi groaned hearing this, he quite enjoyed reading his book in the coffee room, pretending that there was a line at the coffee machine when asked why it took so long to retrieve.)

Kuroko smiled at Mayuzumi, he had missed him too.

When Kise and Momoi went back to their desks, Mayuzumi swivelled around on his chair to face Kuroko,

“So, how’d you do it?”

Kuroko explained about his deal with the devil, and Mayuzumi sighed, “Sounds like something Akashit would do…”

Kuroko nodded, “I’m just hoping that he’ll complete his part of the deal…”

Mayuzumi was about to agree before he felt at arm constrict around his throat, holding him tightly.

“Make one move and I’ll kill you.” Mayuzumi’s eyes widened. Kuroko moaned in annoyance.

“Aomine-kun, let Mayuzumi-kun go… He’s my friend,” Aomine did so hesitantly.

“How do I know you’re not lying? You said he worked here!” he pouted.

“Shut up, I wasn’t even supposed to tell you that much!” Kuroko warned. “Please just go back to work, Aomine-kun. I know your break isn’t for another two hours… Don’t make me call security,” he deadpanned.

Aomine grunted and left, throwing glares at Mayuzumi’s head that were anything but menacing.

Mayuzumi hit Kuroko over the back of the head with a rolled-up newspaper. “You and your shitty friends.”

Kuroko smiled.

 

Kuroko felt his pocket buzz.

_A.Daiki - @zoneman_

**_9:12am/ Ur mean :c_ **

Kuroko face palmed, he had really missed Aomine, that lovable goofball.

_K.Tetsuya - @bestshadow_

**_9:13am/ I love you too, Aomine-kun <3_ **

Kuroko could feel Aomine’s pout through the phone, Kuroko enjoyed teasing his friend.

 

Many times throughout his day, Kise would come over to Kuroko’s desk, a blush on his face, offering to help Kuroko. He would bring Kuroko food, tea, hinting to him that if Kuroko ever wanted to hang out, Kise was free.

In the end, Kuroko pitied him.

“Kise-kun, I will have to… check my schedule, but would you like meet me at the café tomorrow?” Kuroko asked him, giving Kise his phone with a new contact open for Kise to enter his information into.

Kuroko didn’t think that the aura around Kise could get any cheerier, and yet it did. Kise’s hands were shaking as he entered his information, a blinding smile on his face. Kuroko couldn’t help but find it endearing. Kuroko even laughed when he overheard Kise showing off his new contact of Kuroko to Momoi, who in return whined until he was forced to share it with Momoi too.

All in all, Kuroko had a great first day, everyone was very warm and welcoming. The day was nearly over when a tall dark man with shiny grey hair and an abundance of piercings stepped out of the elevator and made a beeline towards Kuroko and Mayuzumi’s desk.

“Back again, Silver?” Mayuzumi uttered tiredly, not looking up from his computer screen, “you know that Akashi isn’t interested in business with you.”

The man laughed, his loud and deep voice rumbling through the ground.

“You never know when that man will change his mind,” Silver sneered.

“Leave, Silver. You’re not wanted here. I thought I told you so last time.”

The man chuckled again, leaning over the desk.

“Leave, or I will be forced to call security. You don’t have an appointment and Akashi-kun is a very busy man,” Kuroko cut in.

The man, who Kuroko now knew as Silver, glared at Kuroko, before whistling lowly.

“Fresh meat aye?”

“Jason Silver, I see you have met Tetsuya. Now leave, I have no business with you.” Akashi glared coldly.

Jason glared back at Akashi, he gave Kuroko a once over and handed him a business card before leaving.

Kuroko shivered at Akashi’s gaze, he looked away before returning to his office.

“Don’t worry about that. That dude was someone that Akashi hates. Silver tries every year to get Akashi to do business with him. I don’t even know what he does for a job, I’ve heard rumours that he’s a drug lord, that he runs an illegal underground weapon shop. Who cares, but Akashi doesn’t want anything to do with him,” Mayuzumi explained.

Kuroko nodded, absorbing the information. He remembered the card he was handed looked over it.

It had Jason Silver's name, his business number and his photo. At the bottom was a personal number scribbled roughly, with ‘for a good time ;)’ scratched beside. Kuroko shuddered in disgust before screwing it up and tossing it in the bin.

An eventful day it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It would mean the world to me if you could comment on this chapter with some feedback?


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little insight into Akashi's motives!

Kuroko collapsed onto his bed, _what a day…_

He laid on his bed wondering what that Jason Silver guy had wanted from Akashi, and why Akashi was so adamant about not speaking to him. Mayuzumi had mentioned that Jason could be a part of many different criminal organisations, but he didn’t say anything about him being involved in anything legal—he was a shady guy.

Kuroko had the brief thought about tipping in the police about Jason, until he remembered he didn’t have a job in the police force anymore. He thought he might get in trouble with Akashi with that though… He supposed taking down criminals wasn’t really his business anymore.

It was a sad thought, but it was his reality now.

With his new job, Akashi had promised to tell him why he—no… why the Emperor, killed.

Honestly, he didn’t know what to expect. He hadn’t spent much time with Akashi. And all of his memories with him had been good.

He’d be better off inquiring then rather than later, otherwise Akashi could make up more deals and excuses to evade Kuroko’s questioning like the manipulative yet clever bastard he was.

 

He wandered about the mansion, looking for a particular redhead. He hadn’t checked many rooms when he found him in his office, looking over some important looking papers.

“Tetsuya, what a pleasant surprise,” He smirked, not looking up from his papers.

“It’s a surprise to hear you speak in such cliché’s. I apologise, for I believed you were more articulate than that.”

Akashi looked up now, his smile only grew broader with Kuroko’s comment.

“Hm, I suppose I shall take the underlying meaning in that sentence as a compliment. Is that better? Do I live up to your standards, my pet?” Akashi teased.

Kuroko tried to ignore the soft blush on his face. Akashi placed the papers in his hand onto the large desk separating the two, leaning back casually.

“What can I do for you, my love?”

Kuroko glared, “First of all, stop calling me names, I find it demeaning.”

“Hmm–"  Akashi pretended to think, rubbing his chin, before seeming to come to a conclusion, “-No.”

Kuroko's face twisted into one of displeasure, but he didn’t attempt to persuade Akashi any more, he had more important matters to inquire about.

“I’ll assume you remember our deal? I work for you and quit my old job, and you in return will aid my curiosity of your motives to kill innocent people.”

Akashi hummed, laughing softly as he stood and crossed the room, passing Kuroko to walk out the door.

“Follow me.”

Akashi led Kuroko to a lounge area that Kuroko hadn’t visited before. How many lounge areas did someone need? It had soft-looking couches and a homey aura, unlike the intimidating business aura Akashi’s personal office gave off.

“I believe this will be more comfortable for this chat. I wouldn’t want someone as precious as you getting too tired out, now would we?”

“…I suppose not” said Kuroko.

Kuroko settled into a large red armchair, enjoying how the backrest was the perfect height for his frame. Probably because he and Akashi shared similar heights. It had a blanket draped over the armrests and the seat, so Kuroko snuggled into it. He found it odd how comfortable he was in the once foreign home.

Akashi was also seated on an armchair, his on the opposite side of the room of Kuroko's. There was a small coffee table separating them, but the two were close enough to be able to have a quiet conversation.

Maybe over tea, Kuroko mused.

Now they were sitting there, and Kuroko didn’t know what to say. Or rather, he didn’t know how to start the conversation. Akashi seemed to be deep in thought.

“Why?” Kuroko started.

Akashi only hummed in response.

“Why do you… kill people? Have you some secret agenda I am unaware of?”

Akashi chuckled, before breaking off into a soft laughter, “A secret agenda? Perhaps, but that is a conversation for another time. Why, why indeed…”

“What does that even mean?”

Akashi laughed again, before obtaining a very serious demeanour, “Are you sure you’re ready to hear about this, you seem quite afraid, my love.”

“I reject your assessment of my emotional state, now please continue.”

**How amusing.**

“Well, you do seem intrigued to know, although I feel like the answer may not be as ground-breaking as you may expect.”

“Please, for the love of God, just tell me.”

“I suppose you could call me a vigilante. I believe that the police force is too… soft, insufficient. It’s hardly worth being called a special force with the little work they actually do. I am simply picking up the slack, and those who roam free after being given an inadequate punishment from the law, are dealt with by me,” Akashi explained, a dangerous glint in his eye that sent shivers down Kuroko’s spine.

“The police force _isn’t_ soft! They lock away criminals every single day!” Kuroko argued.

“And the hundreds of others that aren’t dealt with? The ones who do the most despicable things and aren’t caught because the police force is inadequate? What happens to them if I’m not there to dispose of them? I rule this city, Tetsuya, anyone who I deem unworthy I kill. I rid the world of rapists, paedophiles, slave masters, human traffickers and domestic abusers. I wager that you haven’t heard of any human trafficking scandals in a while? That is because I take care of it all before it gets out of hand.” Akashi spoke every word with a scarily calm demeanour.

“Then, why did you murder Ogiwara Shigehiro?” Kuroko asked, his voice wavering at the thought of the kind boy with scruffy brown hair, who only wanted to tell him cheesy puns and take him out for coffee.

A frown settled onto Akashi's face, like he had just stepped in animal droppings with new $1000 shoes.

“Oh, another thing. I _loathe_ it when _pests_ like him touch my things. He was meddling with something that he shouldn’t have meddled with, something didn’t belong to him, getting a little too comfortable with my one and only. So, I had no choice but to end him and his miserable existence.”

Kuroko gaped. He was… he didn’t know how to feel. The idea had crossed his mind, but he never thought that it could be true… All this time, Kuroko had been blaming Ogiwara in his mind, thinking that somehow the Emperor was a good guy and only hurt bad people, and henceforth Ogiwara was a bad person. An innocent boy. When in truth, he was murdered in cold blood all because he found Kuroko attractive.

Kuroko felt like he was going to be sick.

“So, you had no real reason to murder him… You killed him because you felt threatened. You felt inferior.”

“You’re mine, Tetsuya!" Akashi growled, "I own you. And, I don’t take a liking to people touching my things without my permission.” Akashi stepped closer to Kuroko, knocking the coffee table with his shins. His eyes were glazed over as he confessed his possessive feelings over Kuroko, eyes glinting in the dim light. He stood over Kuroko, eyes animalistic. Kuroko felt as if he couldn’t move even as Akashi grew closer.

“I’ve heard enough…” Kuroko stated.

Akashi’s face fell. “You’re not planning on leaving, are you?” he asked, almost angrily.

“Only to go to my room, why?”

Akashi seemed mildly surprised. “Nothing to worry over, my love…”

Kuroko nodded. But before he left for bed he turned towards Akashi once more.

“Thank you for sharing, I appreciate it,” he muttered.

-

_K.Ryouta - @copyandpaste_

**_8:03am/ hiya Kurokocchi!!!! are you free tonight? i wanna hang out!!!!!!!! owo_ **

Kuroko awoke to the sound of his phone buzzing on the nightstand. He wiped the sleep from his blurry eyes, turning over to look around for the blurred shape of his glasses. The cold frames sent a shiver down his spine, a harsh contrast from the warmth in his bed.

Hearing another buzz, Kuroko decided to check who had decided to text him before 9am. He read the message, a smile rose to his face, it was Kise. He replied swiftly.

_K.Tetsuya - @bestshadow_

**_8:05am/ I’ll have to ask permission from Akashi-kun first, but otherwise I am free._ **

Kuroko frowned in displeasure. Why should he have to ask Akashi if he was allowed to meet with Kise? More importantly, why was asking Akashi for permission his immediate concern? He sighed, it would probably make it easier if he asked for permission first… Akashi had said something about owning Kuroko.

_K.Ryouta - @copyandpaste_

**_8:06am/ yayyy!!!!! dont bother with Akashicchi, he wont mind, its me after all!!! I’ll meet you at that coffee place you frequent at 4 30pm. and one more thing- don’t tell Momoicchi!!! see you there <3_ **

Kuroko smiled, the way Kise typed reminded him of Aomine. Though, Aomine’s messages usually consisted of less exclamation points…

 

-

 

Work that day was the same as the day before, except this time Kuroko didn’t feel the need to call the police to escort any rude customers away.

It was four in the evening now, and he didn’t have a ride anymore, so he would have to walk to the café. Lucky Kuroko had memorised how to get there. He could have asked Akashi for a ride there, but he hadn’t seen Akashi all day and tracking him down would be a pain. And even if he did, Akashi would know where he was and would most likely stalk him. Kuroko wanted just one normal afternoon.

Kuroko pulled the large coat around himself more tightly, shoving his mouth into his scarf, the evening air was chilly, he couldn’t wait to get to the café and have one of Himuro’s delicious hot chocolates. Maybe even a cookie. Oh, Kuroko became very excited to eat one of Murasakibara’s cookies, almost concerningly so. Kuroko sped up his steps, hoping to get to the café with time to spare.

As Kuroko shouldered open the door to the café, not bothering to take his hands out of his toasty pockets, he was hit by a wall of warmth and light chatter.

Kuroko smiled, with all that had been going on lately, he hadn’t had time to see Murasakibara or Himuro. He was looking forward to seeing them.

“Kuroko, how nice to see you!” said Himuro as Kuroko approached the counter.

“You too, Himuro-san.”

“How’s Kagami and Daiki, I haven’t seen those two in a while. Your usual?” asked Himuro.

“Hmm. I think I’ll have a hot chocolate today, and a chocolate chip cookie. I am in need of one after not tasting one for so long.”

Himuro nodded set aside a cookie for Kuroko before beginning to prepare the beverage.

“And as for Kagami-kun and Aomine-kun, I haven’t been able to speak to them much lately, but they are well as far as I know.”

Himuro nodded, “I thought you guys lived together? Is there someone new in your life that’s taken you away from them?” he teased, laughing at Kuroko’s soft blush. He didn’t say anything else, only letting Kuroko pay before continuing to do what he had been doing before Kuroko arrived.

“Here you go, Kuro-chin,” Murasakibara spoke as he handed Kuroko his drink, taking the time to ruffle Kuroko’s soft blue locks.

“Thank you, but please do try to not touch my hair, you know I dislike it,” mumbled Kuroko as he turned away from counter, looking around the café to see if his companion had arrived. He hadn’t, so Kuroko sat down in his usual seat, and pulled a book out of his bag to pass the time.

The cookie was delicious.

Kise rushed through the doors, twenty minutes late and breathing heavily, as if he had run the whole way there.

“Sorry Kurokocchi, I got a bit… uh, held up…”

 

-Half an hour earlier-

 

Kise had just finished work, slightly later then he had hoped, but still with twenty minutes until he was scheduled to meet with Kuroko. And, if he got a taxi, he’d be able to make it there on time.

As he was making his way into the lobby, he passed a suspicious figure. They seemed to be attempting to pick the lock into the file room with… a hair pin? The file room didn’t have any valuable information, but the suspicious person looked like their goal was of the malicious sort.

“You’ll see Tetsu, I’ll get you out of this mess.”

Oh, ‘Tetsu’ huh, this was Kuroko’s best friend, Aomine Daiki.

“Hello there, is there anything I can help you with?” Kise asked, his voice friendly. His eyes did not match his smile.

Aomine whipped around, only to stutter out lame excuses.

“Hush, you must be worried about your friend. But please, you’re worrying too much, I know Kurokocchi’s lover personally. He treats him well, but I wouldn’t want to snoop around too much. You wouldn’t want to get on his _bad side._ ”

Kise spoke as if he was trying to help Aomine, but the way he walked around Aomine like a lion circling its meal only proved to further intimidate him.

“Run along now, you wouldn’t want me to tell my boss about this, trust me,” he chuckled, staring after the retreating figure.

Aomine felt as if he was on autopilot, like the blonde had cast a spell on him.

Kise seemed to be a formidable foe, Aomine would need backup.

 

-

 

Kuroko had an interesting night with Kise. They talked about their interests and dislikes, Kise had even let slip that he used to model.

Kuroko collapsed into bed that night, Kise was fun to be around, but he was also exhausting.

He thought about what Akashi had said the other night. Would Akashi kill Aomine or Kagami? What about Kise?

Kuroko was startled at the sudden banging at his door, “Come in.”

The door opened, and Akashi walked in.

“Tetsuya, how was your night with Ryouta?” Of course, he knew about that.

“It was fine, I enjoyed it.”

Akashi nodded, “Good.”

It was an awkward silence.

Akashi gazed around the room, admiring how Kuroko had personalised it. There was a photo of Kuroko and his friends after a game of basketball sat on the nightstand, along with the many other trinkets and things that littered the desk and bedside table. Kuroko was sitting on the edge of his bed, he wondered if that’s all Akashi had wanted to say. It wasn’t.

“I… will you accompany me tomorrow night, just the two of us…?” Akashi seemed nervous. Kuroko hadn’t heard him stutter before.

“Like, a date?” Kuroko asked.

“I… No- not exactly, ah, well, y-yes.” Akashi’s face bloomed a dark shade of red. Kuroko couldn’t help but smile, there was no malice in that face. How could he say no?

Kuroko felt himself relax, this was an Akashi that seemed more normal, one that he found he could get used to. And there was only a small chance that Akashi was acting nervous in order to lure Kuroko in, but he didn’t think that Akashi would stoop so low. He was a sneaky and manipulative man, but he was also respectable. Kuroko found that out in the past few weeks spent with Akashi.

“I will," Kuroko replied, hesitantly, "but first I have a few rules.”

 Akashi nodded. Go on, his eyes said.

“One, no funny business, please respect my boundaries, I don’t want you touching me inappropriately. And two, I will only agree to go out on this ‘date’ if you promise that no harm will come to my friends. That includes Aomine-kun, Kagami-kun, Murasakibara-kun and Himuro-kun, Mayuzumi-kun, Kise-kun, and Momoi-san.”

“You speak as if you thought I would actually hurt any of your precious friends,” gasped Akashi, mock offended.

“Do you agree to my conditions or not.”

“It’s a deal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading, and for commenting on the last chapter! It really made my week! <3 I'd appreciate it if I could get some more feedback? I'm not too confident about this chapter... <3


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh the akakuro date is here!! Please enjoy this chapter! 
> 
> Just a note: The next time I will be updating is on Sunday (for you Americans, that will be Saturday.) After that I will be updating weekly, or bi-weekly depending. 
> 
> I do hope you all enjoy, much love. <3

Kuroko missed his parents. He couldn’t remember much about them, he was only eleven when the incidenthappened, yet he still felt so much sorrow and pain at the memory of them.

Akashi didn’t know what to do, his father hadn’t been very loving, and his mother died when he was very young, so he wasn’t very familiar with how to comfort someone. Of course, he knew the general idea of what to do when someone was upset, but he had never walked into a room to something like this before...

Kuroko’s glasses were across the room, opposite from Kuroko, a small crack in the lens suggesting that they were thrown forcefully. He was shaking at the force of his sobs, his nails digging into the soft flesh of his arm, drawing blood. His breathing was shaky, his eyes stared across the room, glazed over. He hadn’t noticed Akashi yet.

 “Tetsuya,” he spoke softly, trying to not startle Kuroko too badly.

Kuroko tensed. Choking down a sob, he looked up towards Akashi, “Akashi…kun?”

Akashi smiled gently, nodding to Kuroko. He draped his large coat over Kuroko, kneeling next to him.

“What happened, Tetsuya, can you speak?” Simple questions, that would hopefully take his mind off the situation.

Kuroko’s breathing was erratic, unable to speak his words. “I… I’m…” he tried but failed.

“Breathe with me, Tetsuya, just like this,” Akashi made sure to keep his voice soft. He breathed evenly, helping Tetsuya regulate his own. “Slower. Yes, that’s it.”

After what seemed like forever, Kuroko was breathing properly, having calmed himself with the help of Akashi. His cheeks were stained with tears, his eyes bloodshot. He looked exhausted.

“Are you okay? Well, obviously you’re not, but do you want to talk about it?” Akashi rambled, nervously.

Kuroko chuckled quietly, it wasn’t often that Akashi was so nervous. Ever since Akashi met Kuroko, Akashi had showcased emotions he never knew he had.

“I’m feeling better, thank you for calming me down.”

Akashi nodded, as if saying “anytime.”

“I suppose I should tell you why I was upset…?”

“It would be appreciated, but if you don’t wish to tell me, feel free not to.”

“I would rather you hear it from the source, instead of you using your status of a person in such a high position of power to find out all of my information,” Kuroko deadpanned.

“Ugh! I would never!” Akashi joked, succeeding in lightening the mood.

After taking a deep breath and a moment to gather his thoughts, he began. Kuroko told Akashi about his childhood, how his parents had been murdered, and how they had been left for Kuroko to discover them.

Akashi felt guilty, he was nodding along as Kuroko told his story, showing enough interest as to seem normal. Kuroko didn’t need to know that he was already aware of his past.

“I am… sorry that you went through something so awful,” Akashi consoled. Sincerely, Kuroko noticed.

“Ah, it was not your fault, don’t feel sorry.”

They sat in silence, it was comfortable. Although Kuroko’s legs were beginning to hurt after being sat on for so long.

“Are you still okay to come out with me tomorrow night?” Akashi asked, hesitant, but not showing any excitement or worry.

Kuroko nodded.

Akashi didn’t show relief or joy at Kuroko’s confirmation, he kept his face stoic. It was times like that night, when Akashi was gentle with Kuroko and showed patience, it was then when it was the hardest to remember that this man was a cold-hearted _killer_.

 

 

-

 

“Why do we even want this kid, huh?! It’s not like we would get a decent amount of cash for him if we tried to sell him anyways...!” a brash voice asked.

“We need him, more than I’d like to admit… It seems that the Emperor has taken a liking to him, he’s the only way we’ll be able to take down the oh-so-mighty Emperor.”

“Come on Jason! We can take him down without the kid as fucking leverage or whatever you’re calling it,” the same voice from before rebutted.

“And **how** do you suppose we do that **hm?** ” asked Jason.

Silence.

“Okay fine, I get it. We need him. When are we getting him then, huh?”

 Jason dismissed his underlying. He rubbed his eyes, hoping that the action would help him stay awake longer, muttering an irritated, “Fucking Haizaki…”

 He sighed deeply.

“Tired, are you?” a voice chuckled.

Jason jumped, looking up abruptly at the face of his boss. “Nash-Sama! What are you doing here? I thought you were at an important meeting with our weapons manager?”

“I had to leave early, something’s happened. We need to obtain Kuroko sooner than we thought.” Nash explained, his face scrunched up in silent anger.

“W-what? Why!” Jason asked.

“It’s **him**. He knows, one of his own snuck into one of the meetings… He knows.”

“Wait, don’t tell me that **he** really knows? Oh, fuck we’re so de—"

“ _Shut your fucking mouth._ We’ll be fine. _You_ just need to be more careful from now on, got that?”

“Understood, sir.”

By the end of the conversation, one of Nash’s large hands were gripped tightly around Jason’s neck tie, his face close to Jason’s own. Nash didn’t have to try to be intimidating, his naturally dark eyes invoked fear in one’s heart. Nash was smart, charismatic, deceptive, and truly a formidable opponent.

Anyone who dared face Nash would soon regret it.

Nash smiled, slowly releasing Jason’s tie. He trailed his hand upwards towards Jason’s cheek, caressing his face gently. His face showed warmth, but there was something in Jason telling him not to believe that warmth. Nash placed his other hand on Jason’s shoulder, gripping him tight as Jason’s heartbeat rapidly increased in pace. Jason could feel Nash’s warm breath on his neck, he scrunched his eyes shut, fear making his hands shake.

Jason wasn’t important to the company, everyone was replaceable, no one (other than Nash himself) that couldn’t be replaced. Sometimes, Nash would tease Jason like this, get close and personal, but never anything more. Jason never knew how to feel about those moments, he knew Nash was just toying with him.

Jason was pulled from his thoughts as he felt Nash bite down on his throat. Hard. Jason whimpered in pain, it didn’t feel good, but he would never push Nash away.

“Oh… How adorable. I almost feel bad for interrupting.”

Jason’s eyes widened, that voice wasn’t one they recognised.

“You… Who are you?!” Jason shouted. He stood quickly, clumsily reaching for a glock from behind his desk, aiming it at the intruder. Nash composed himself, standing calmly. Staring. The stranger was holding one hand behind his back.

The man chuckled lightly, his smile falsely alluring, “My name is not important, although I must tell you. Emperor-chan is not happy with you boys, ‘How dare they endanger my Jewel’, and all that jazz.”

The man pouted, pretending to be disappointed in the two.

“T-the Emperor? So, he really did find out…” Jason concluded.

Nash chuckled, “Ah, I know you. You’re one of the Emperor’s Uncrowned Kings… Mibuchi Reo, am I correct?”

“It seems my reputation proceeds me. Well, I believe my purpose has been fulfilled,” he spoke, motioning as if he was going to turn around. “Oh, one more thing before I go.” Mibuchi smiled devilishly, he pulled his hand out from behind his back, revealing the severed head of Haizaki.

“Oh no! Poor child, I hope he wasn’t important to you?” Reo gasped in a faux apologetic voice.

Nash grimaced, but quickly reshaped his face into one of disinterest, “Oh, no matter, he was beginning to get on my nerves.”

Reo nodded before tossing the head towards the two, it rolled and stopped at their feet, it’s dead eyes staring into theirs. Jason made a foul noise as he dry-reached into the corner of the room. Nash frowned and rolled his eyes at Jason’s pathetic form.

He looked towards the door to curse out Mibuchi, but he was already gone.

A lone piece of paper sat on the floor where the Uncrowned King had stood. Nash eyed it suspiciously, before walking towards it slowly and picking it from the floor.

\------------------------------------------

It was a ripped piece from a book, Nash was unsure from which one. A passage, with certain letters highlighted.But even yet I refrained and kept still. I scarcely breathed. I held the lantern motionless. I tried how steadily I could maintain the ray upon the eve. Meantime the hellish tattoo of the heart increased. It grew quicker and quicker, and louder and louder every instant. The old man's terror must have been extreme! It grew louder, I say, louder every moment! -- **do** you mark me well I have told you that I am nervous: so I am. And **no** w at the dead hour of the night, amid the dreadful silence of that old house, so strange a noise as this exci **t** ed me to uncontrollable **t** error. Yet, for s **o** me minutes longer I refrained and stood still. But the beating grew louder, louder! I thought the heart must b **u** rst. And now a new anxiety seized me --the sound would be heard by a neighbour! The old man's hour had **c** ome! With a loud yell, I t **h** rew open the lantern and leaped into the room. He shrieked once --once only. In an instant I dragged him to the floor, and pulled the heavy bed over hi **m**. I then smiled gail **y** , to find the deed so far done. But, for many minutes, the heart beat on with a muff **l** ed s **o** und. This, however, did not **ve** x me; it would not be heard through the wall. At length it ceased. The old man was dead. I removed the bed and examined the corpse. Yes, he was stone, stone dead. I placed my hand upon the heart and held it there many minutes. There was no pulsation. He was stone dead. His eye would trouble me no more.

\------------------------------------------

**‘Do not touch my love.’**

Nash chuckled heartily, “…Interesting.”

 

-

 

“Sei-chan, it’s been done. I took out Haizaki Shogo, one of their top men, and delivered your message,” Reo reported to Akashi over the phone.

“Thank you, Reo,” Akashi smiled, “feel free to take the rest of the day off.”

Reo squealed into the phone, “Thanks Sei-chan! You’re the best!”

Akashi ended the call.

He looked over himself in the mirror and nodded, he looked quite smart and fashionable. Akashi hadn’t had the time to deal with Nash and his buddies, he had a date, so he had sent his trusted second-in-command, Mibuchi Reo.

Reo was gifted with flawless feminine features and a masculine body. He was exceptional at his job, and his androgynous looks came in handy on infiltration missions— he could dress as a female or male depending on the target, and seduce them until he had them right where he wanted them. But, that didn’t mean Reo couldn’t handle his own. Reo specialised in poisons, and even had access to many hospitals and their stock, though tonight he was tasked with knocking out and then beheading his victim. Akashi was lucky to have picked him up before someone else did.

Akashi sighed, he was excited for his night with Tetsuya, but at this exact moment, he really wanted to rip someone’s throat out.

It was an urge. He had felt it the day that Jason came to Akashi-Corp, that wasn’t when it started, but instead when it became obvious to Akashi. When he could put a label on what the itching feeling on his arms was. He missed the metallic smell of blood, the feeling of tearing through skin with a freshly sharpened knife. The way his victim’s eyes would roll back in their head as he tore their intestines out. The sounds bones would make as they snapped, or even better, when a bullet _shattered them._

But no—Akashi had to stay calm, couldn’t let the urge take over.  He had a kitten to spoil. _His_ kitten.

Akashi grinned at the thought of his love, Tetsuya had agreed to go on an outing with him. Could he call it a date...?

“He’s… warming up to me,” his features softened, un-clenching his jaw and relaxing his posture. He was smitten.

 

-

 

Kuroko buttoned up his shirt slowly, his hands faintly trembling. Why had he even agreed to this? Kuroko had to admit, he had slightly warmed up to Akashi. He hadn’t heard of any new murders with the Emperor’s name on it since he had moved in with Akashi, so maybe he was changing his ways? No—He had killed people! Akashi was a monster…

‘ _An attractive, sweet, kind, and loving monster…’_ Kuroko’s mind supplied.

But he had actually killed people... Rid them of their lives. Their hopes, aspirations and goals were all cut off because of Akashi. 

Kuroko shook his head, attempting to rid his mind of the thoughts intruding into his mind. He just had to shake away the nerves. Yes, that was it.

The door sounded. Kuroko walked over and opened the door, expecting a servant.

“Hello, Tetsuya.” Akashi asked.

“Oh, Akashi-kun, I didn’t expect you…” Kuroko mumbled. “If you’ll just wait a few more moments, I am almost ready.”

Akashi nodded, adjusting his shirt’s cuffs.

Kuroko rushed to the bathroom and quickly attempted to tame his unruly hair before inevitably failing. Then, he decided to spray some cologne on his neck. Never hurt to smell nice.

He flicked off the light switch in his room and followed Akashi down the stairs towards the doors.

“Will you link arms with me?” Akashi asked, offering his arm to Kuroko.

Not expecting the sudden closeness as Akashi tugged him closed and linked their arms, Kuroko flushed.

“Ah, sorry. I... probably should have waited for your agreement,” Akashi muttered to himself.

“No! This is fine…” Kuroko assured, pretending to rub his nose in attempt to hide his red face. Akashi chuckled, he had been caught.

Akashi escorted Kuroko to the car, opening the door for Kuroko, and walking around to his own side of the car. Once they were inside, the chauffeur began to drive to their destination.

The car ride was nice, the radio playing soft classical music, the dark sky filled to the brim with beautiful sparkling stars. But, the silence between Akashi and Kuroko was suffocating, Akashi seemed to be content just being in the same vicinity with Kuroko, but Kuroko was determined to make the night one to enjoy.

“So, where are we going, Akashi-kun?” He asked, trying to make light conversation.

Akashi smiled, he continued to look out the window, “A nice place, we’ll have dinner there. I hope you saved room for it?” he chuckled. Akashi looked towards Kuroko, awaiting his answer.

Kuroko smiled, “Of course.”

He still wasn’t used to seeing Akashi smile so openly. He was so cold to everyone except Kuroko, it was nice to have someone to care for him in a way that wasn’t platonic. He hadn’t had someone do that for him before, but it felt nice…

They made it to the destination of their dinner-date quite quickly, and Kuroko immediately understood what they would be doing.

“Wow! The botanical gardens…”

Akashi nodded, “I booked it out for tonight, just us.”

Kuroko felt his heart fill with warmth, a bubbly laugh forced its way out of his throat.

“Thank you!”

“Anything for you and your happiness, my love,” Akashi replied sweetly.

Akashi stepped out of the car first, walking around and opening Kuroko’s door for him while he was busy gawking at the beautiful scenery surrounding the entrance.

“I assure you, it is more beautiful inside. Shall we?” he asked, offering his arm to Kuroko once more.

Kuroko blushed at his gaping, “What a gentleman,” he joked, giggling slightly as he took Akashi’s arm.

Akashi laughed along with Kuroko, basking in the sight of Kuroko making such a gleeful face.

They walk through the garden’s gate, Kuroko gasping. It was stunning.

Twinkling fairy lights lit up the path ahead, decorated with coloured translucent caps filling the pathway with colour. The stepping stones were a dark grey, and they were covered with different coloured rose pedals. At the end of the pathway sat a picnic blanket laid upon a soft-looking patch of grass. Soft piano music flowed from an unseen speaker. Kuroko found himself matching his footsteps with the leisurely beat of the piano.

Kuroko had to bite his tongue to reassure himself that he wasn’t dreaming. It was as if they were from a cheesy American high school film. He closed his eyes, blinking away tears of happiness.

“It’s… so beautiful. I am... I’m just so, so grateful…” Kuroko stuttered.

Akashi stood to the side, embarrassed, “It’s too much isn’t it… I’m sorry.” he said.

“No… It’s perfect.” Kuroko assured

Akashi nodded, proud that what he had done was enough to satisfy Kuroko.

“Here, come sit down,” Akashi offered. Kuroko nodded and followed Akashi up to the blanket. Akashi helped Kuroko sit down first, before taking a seat next to him.

“It’s more comfortable than I imagined!” said Kuroko.

“I’m glad it is to your liking, little lamb” laughed Akashi, “In this bag I packed some simple foods, ones that I hoped to try with you one day…”

Now Kuroko was suspicious. Akashi seemed almost… nervous?

“Okay… Then, let’s eat.”

Akashi opened the bag, and it took everything Kuroko had to not burst into laughter.

Mr ‘I have all the money in the world’ had packed Magi Burger.

“Pfft~ AHAHAH!” Kuroko couldn’t take it anymore, he couldn’t hold in the laughter.

“What? I thought you liked this? I even got you a vanilla milkshake…” Akashi sighed, completely lost as to why Kuroko found the situation so funny.

“It’s just that—” Kuroko said between laughs, “—I was expecting some gourmet meal that I wouldn’t be able to pronounce, I just love how you know I prefer this over anything else!” he shouted, tears streaming down his face as he doubled over, in physical pain from the force of his laughter.

“I… It’s just how obvious how much thought you put into this… I’m overwhelmed, but in the best way!”

Akashi sighed, full of relief.

The Magi Burger was delicious as usual, and Kuroko was very entertained with Akashi’s over-the-top reaction to fast food. All in all, it was a lovely first date. And, Kuroko didn’t want to admit it, but he would most definitely go on a second one.

At one point while consuming burgers, Kuroko had spilt Ketchup down his front. He, unthinkingly, splashed water to quickly wash off the sauce and ended up drenching himself. Drenching himself, and his white shirt. He didn’t think anything bad of it, just continued to eat his burger, but Akashi on the other hand, was in worse shape. He couldn’t take his eyes off Kuroko’s delectable pink nipples that showed through his now see-through button up. If Akashi was nearly drooling over Kuroko’s nipples, he didn’t think he could hold himself back if he were to see any more.

Akashi was having a hard time holding himself back even then.

He snatched a jacket from the bag he packed, draping it over Kuroko’s shoulders, successfully covering him.

That didn’t stop his mind wandering.

**It would be so easy to take him now, Hm?**

_I won’t, he’s not ready and I refuse to hurt him._

**One of these days he’ll leave you, and when that day comes I’m taking over.**

_I… I won’t let you._

 

 

 

The night was perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please,,, comment. Support this broke writer,,, pls. Aha, that was pathetic. But please! Let me know if you enjoyed today's chapter, I had trouble writing this one. <3


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Points at relevant tags* Be warned!!  
> This chapter is very... intense. Please be warned and read the tags before continuing. This chapter is a bit longer than usual, but It's got a lot of important information within. The climax of the story should be coming soon!  
> Please enjoy <3  
> I also want to say that there is a Kuroko no Basket discord server, where fans from all across the globe can unite!!! I am on this sever, along with many other writer and artists. Feel free to join. This is the invite link: https://discord.gg/u4uV5qa Hope to see you there!! <3

“Ugh, fuck. This Akashi guy checks out, there’s no way he’s abducted someone with this reputation,” Aomine cursed.

Kagami and Aomine were sitting in in their living room, looking over the papers they had been studying for over an hour now. They both had been working hard over the last few weeks in an attempt to find any leads on Kuroko’s kidnapper. So far, they had found nothing.

“Really? He’s the head of the company that Kuroko works at, he would have to know something!” Kagami argued, refusing to let their only lead go.

“It doesn’t look like it…”

Thinking over what Kagami had said, he agreed. This guy had to know something, and they could probably interview him without a warrant.

 _‘Wait, he’s the boss of the company,’_ Aomine thought, remembering his incident at Akashi-Corp only a week or so ago.

“Hey Kagami?” Aomine broke the silence hesitantly.

Kagami hummed in reply, listening half-heartedly, his eyes never leaving the paper in his hand. Aomine sighed, rubbing his hands over his tired face. He still hadn’t told Kagami about the man he had encountered on his ‘infiltration mission’ into Kuroko’s new workplace, but if they were to work together in this case, there had to be no secrets.

“When I went to Kuroko’s new workplace, a man stopped me… I think it could be beneficial to us if we investigated him,” he spoke carefully, anticipating Kagami’s unhappy reaction that was sure to come.

“W-What?!” He gasped, dropping his paper in favour of a notepad and pen, “Well, what happened? What did he say?”

He wasn’t angry, but more interested in finding their friend. Aomine breathed, he should have spoken to Kagami earlier.

“He knew who I was and that I was trying to find Tetsu. He also mentioned knowing his “lover” personally. But, get this—I also remember him advising me to “hurry along” and that I wouldn’t want him to tell his “boss” about me being there,” he informed, “His boss—that could be this Akashi guy!” Aomine shouted, the pieces connecting in his head.

A key piece of information entered his mind, he waited for Kagami to finish jotting down notes, before continuing, “He was obviously telling the truth, because he called him ‘Kurokocchi’…?”

Kagami gasped, “This is great, Aomine, we’d better investigate them both… Wait- did you say Kuro…kocchi? I know him! Did he have bright blond hair and a silver hoop piercing on his… uhhh, left ear!?”

Aomine’s eyes widened, “Yeah, he did! Who is he, how do you know him?!”

Kagami smiled, overjoyed in finally having a lead on their friend, “His name is Kise, he’s been to Himuro’s café before!” he shouted, standing and swiftly pulling on his suit blazer.

Kagami hurriedly swiped the notepad and car-keys off the coffee table they were sitting around, tossing them inside a carry-bag, and began marching towards the door with Aomine following promptly behind him.

While Aomine drove, Kagami dialled Himuro’s number on his cell.

“Himuro, I’m sorry for calling you so late at night, but this is important.”

Over the phone, Himuro groaned sleepily, but answered “Yeah, what’s up?”

Kagami hastily filled him in, noticing they were almost at Himuro’s house, “We’re almost at your house, we need to talk about Kise, remember him?”

“Kise? Yeah, he comes to the café sometimes. Works at that big company, but Kuroko’s been abducted?! How can that be? I only saw him the other day?” Himuro responded, noticeably more awake. Kagami could hear Murasakibara’s grumpy voice mumbling in the background.

“His kidnapper allows him some freedom somehow, I don’t know a lot of information, Kuroko wasn’t able to tell me much,” Kagami replied, getting out of the car with Aomine leading the way to Himuro’s door.

“Is that you here?” Himuro asked, having heard car doors slamming.

Kagami hummed a yes, knocking on the door roughly. He hung up as he heard the locks being undone.

“I need you to tell me what the fuck is going on!” Himuro shouted as he threw the door open, visibly distressed.

“What happened, Murochin,” a rough sounding Murasakibara spoke as he shuffled towards the door, his eyes barely open.

“Something’s happened to Kuroko.” Himuro explained quickly, not bothering to explain or even look in his boyfriend’s direction.

“…What happened to Kuro-chin?” Murasakibara asked, his tired voice gone, replaced with a menacing growl. He and Kuroko were good friends, great friends even. Sometimes they would annoy each other, but every minor argument would strengthen their relationship. Hearing that his friend was possibly hurt, mentally or physically he didn’t know, made his usually childish self transform into a seriously enraged adult.

At least Kagami and Aomine knew they had some more people willing to aid them help Kuroko.

“We’ll explain soon, first tell us everything you know about this ‘Kise’ guy, and about Akashi-Corp.”

 

-

 

_“The day I decorated this room… it became mine.”_

Kuroko looked over his dark room, he could barely make out the shapes of his personalised room in the dark, but from memory he knew he had a picture frame on his nightstand of his parents holding him as an infant, a small bookshelf full of reading material, and the dressers and closet were full of his clothes. He could feel that his bed was worn-in, and the mattress smelt like him (no matter how many times he tried to air it out).

He didn’t know why he chose to leave the lights off.

Kuroko was conflicted. Over the time that he was forced to live in the Akashi household, he had grown accustomed to it. He was used to living with Akashi, even if they wouldn’t see each other all the time. Sometimes Kuroko was out, spending time with Kise or working. Sometimes Akashi would be working or doing… whatever he did when he wasn’t home. It was strangely hard to admit, but he often hoped Akashi wouldn’t get stuck a work, so that Kuroko didn’t have to eat alone.

Maybe he just wanted to spend time with Akashi. He couldn’t help but be drawn in by Akashi. He was dangerous, but it lit Kuroko up, made him feel alive.

Akashi Seijuurou was alluring, mysterious and wealthy—something anyone would want in a possible lover.

Wait… lover? The word made Kuroko’s heart flutter. Imagining himself as Akashi’s lover was nice, lovely even. But, he couldn’t let himself forget that Akashi was insane. A psychopath. He had killed people.

Akashi Seijuurou had killed real people. He couldn’t love a criminal… He liked spending time with Akashi, but he didn’t know if he just be okay with Akashi’s… Hobby? He wasn’t sure what to call it.

Akashi terrified Kuroko, but Kuroko knew that Akashi wouldn’t hurt him. He had said so himself.

If this were a movie, Kuroko would probably be fine with Akashi being a ‘vigilante’, but this wasn’t a movie, and he didn’t know if he was mentally prepared to handle this sort of thing.

Akashi made him feel so many emotions, and majority of them were bad ones. Feeling sad that Akashi wasn’t home counted as a bad emotion, right?

But it only made him cherish the good emotions even more. Made him cherish the good times… _With Akashi_.

Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t even remember what his old room even looked like. The room he lived in for months with Aomine just down the hallway. He would wake up and have his morning coffee or tea, then attempt to somehow lure Aomine out of bed with the smell of boiled eggs and toast. It wouldn’t always work, but that meant more food for Kuroko. Kuroko smiled to himself, he missed Aomine. Akashi wouldn’t allow Kuroko to see him often, but the rare times that Aomine would sneak into work with a packed lunch for him were precious.

He decided then that he would ask Akashi if he could see Aomine the next day.

Kuroko rolled over towards his bedside table where his phone rested, charging. He turned it on, squinting as the light briefly blinded him to see no new messages, but a few business emails. He clicked on the message app, ignoring the emails, they were probably just Mayuzumi yelling about some anime anyway, then typed out a short message to Aomine.

_K.Tetsuya - @bestshadow_

**_6:26pm/ Aomine-kun, I would like to see you today, are you free?_ **

Kuroko shut off his phone, his eyes thanking him as the darkness consumed the room once again. Only a few minutes later his phone buzzed on the nightstand, alerting Kuroko that he had received a message.

_A.Daiki - @zoneman_

**_6:43pm/ Tetsu! Am free at around 9pm lets hang! Just us 2 :P_ **

“Aomine-kun and his terrible grammar,” Kuroko chuckled quietly. Usually when Aomine messaged him, he would be irritated by his careless typing, but now he grew to appreciate it immensely. It was just one of his quirks. Something so… Aomine.

He quickly replied that he would meet him at their once shared apartment. Aomine immediately replied, saying something about grabbing drinks. Kuroko didn’t like the sound of that, the last time he decided to ‘grab drinks’ with someone, he was almost… Never mind.

Kuroko frowned, Akashi had saved him when that happened. What would he do if something similar happened again and Akashi didn’t know about his whereabouts. Kuroko bit his lip, he had grown quite dependant on Akashi. He wasn’t opposed to such a thing, but he didn’t want to burden Akashi.

He would tell Akashi about his plans but wouldn’t say whom he had plans with. Perfect, then Akashi wouldn’t be upset that he was hanging out with his old friends.

Kuroko sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He didn’t bother slipping on his shoes, he quite liked the feeling of the plush carpet on his socked feet as he shuffled through the mansion. Usually at around this time, if Akashi was even home, he would be relaxing in the back lounge-room in front of the fire. Akashi liked to leave work at work, so unless he had a very important project, he wouldn’t bother using his home office. Kuroko walked past the office, not bothering to check inside.

When he reached the loungeroom, the fire was lit and crackling away, and Kuroko could spy a soft-looking tuft of scarlet hair poking over the back of the large, red armchair.

“Tetsuya,” Akashi called, without looking over to see who had joined him. Kuroko thought he had been silent, perhaps Akashi could see his reflection somewhere?

“Akashi-kun,” Kuroko replied, “I’ve come to let you know that I will be going out tonight,” He spoke.

“Oh? Who will be joining you, little stray?” Akashi sounded pleased. Probably because his ‘stray’ was reporting to his master. Kuroko didn’t hate the nickname, for once.

“It’s just me. I… I just want to go for a walk,” he improvised. Kuroko had walked around the chair in order to see Akashi. He was wearing a (as always, impeccable) suit, it consisted of a tight dark maroon button-up, a form fitting velvet vest with crimson design, and a black cravat tucked slightly into his vest with a bright yellow jewel attached to the top of the cravat. The jewel had a cat-eye slit through the middle, Kuroko couldn’t help but feel intimidated.

Akashi was holding a cup of tea, one of his legs were lifted over the other. The tea smelled lovely.

“Is that so?” Akashi pondered, setting his tea on the saucer beside him, his eyes never leaving Kuroko’s. “Come here.”

Kuroko slowly stepped forward, eyeing the red head cautiously. Once he was an arm’s length from Akashi, he stopped. “Is there something wrong?” Kuroko asked.

Akashi smiled, it filled Kuroko with fear—something about the seemingly innocent smile wasn’t genuine. Without warning, Kuroko’s wrist was encased in a firm grip, his skin burning from the strength.

“I detest liars. Now, why don’t you tell me the truth… Hm?” Somehow, Akashi had seen through Kuroko’s half-baked lie. Now Akashi was mad.

“I’m not lying…” he tried.

Akashi let out a smooth laugh, his eyes shutting briefly, before they opened. Akashi’s smile was gone. Instead, it was an empty frown, his eyes burning with the wrath that he could unfold if he wanted to. They stared into Kuroko’s soul. He regretted lying now.

“You… You’re _lying_ to him…” Akashi’s voice spoke. For some reason, it didn’t seem like Akashi anymore. It was as if some stranger had climbed into Akashi’s skin. The hand gripped Kuroko’s wrist tighter, the pain was blinding.

“Please stop. You’re hurting me,” Kuroko cried, his free hand trying to rip away the iron grip.

“I told him this would happen. You’re bored of him. You’re bored of **us**.”

Kuroko felt tears pooling in his eyes, blurring his vision as he struggled in Akashi’s hold.

“Why are you talking like that? Akashi… Please stop this. I’m sorry! I won’t lie ever again!” Kuroko shouted, his voice cracking as he felt something in his arm **pop**. White overwhelmed his vision.

“He was too easy on you,” Akashi stood, releasing Kuroko’s wrist in favour of grasping Kuroko’s shoulders and pushing him to the floor. It was too easy. Kuroko went down without a fight, cradling his deformed wrist to his stomach for safety, “He let you walk all over him. But I won’t. You will obey me. You will submit to me,” he demanded.

“Please, Akashi! Who… _Who are you_?”

Akashi clutched at his stomach as a laugh bubbled up, bursting from his mouth, he chuckled more, until he was laughing hysterically, tears building up. Kuroko couldn’t tell if they were tears of laughter, or betrayal.

“Who am I? Tetsuya… Finally asking the important questions. I am Akashi Seijuurou, but I’m not the ‘Akashi-kun’ you know. No, I am his improved self!” He exclaimed.

“…Bring back the real Akashi!” Kuroko shouted.

‘Akashi’ tilted his head mockingly, “Real Akashi? There is no ‘real’ one, for we both exist inside this body. He may seem to have control more often, but I am always there, listening. **Waiting**. I won’t let you leave us.”

“I don’t want to leave you, either of you. I just—I miss my friends!”

“We allowed you see your friends, we fed you, kept you sheltered and warm, we showered you in gifts… What more could you possibly want? How dare you be so ungrateful, lying to your master…” Kuroko let out a sob, the pain was unbearable.

“I’m sorry… I won’t lie to you again.”

Akashi looked down on Kuroko with disapproving eyes.

“I’ll call Shintarou to come look at your wrist,” he sighed.

He kneeled down, embracing Kuroko. “I did it for your own good, call it punishment if you must. I watch over you to keep you safe, I do it because I love you. It’s okay. You’re okay now, I’ll take care of you,” he assured, stroking his blue hair as Kuroko sobbed into his chest.

This type of punishment was very different to the type he was used to.

Akashi smiled, “You have no need for those friends anymore, they only make you disobey me. I’ll take care of them while you sleep.”

The blue haired boy gasped, sitting up to look the other in the eye, “You—you promised, you said you wouldn’t hurt them!”

“Ah ah ah,” Akashi shook his head, “I believe the other me promised that. Plus, how can I expect you to be obedient when they are always on your mind?”

Spots began to fill Kuroko’s vision, slowly losing conscientiousness.

“No… Please don’t hurt them… I’ll be good, I promise,”

“Hm, a little too late for that, don’t you think? Now sleep, little lamb. You seem tired. You needn’t worry, I shall do away with them quick and painlessly.”

Kuroko’s body fell limp in Akashi’s arms, having lost conscientiousness.

Akashi leaned down and scooped the boy into his arms, kissing his forehead lovingly.

“My good boy.”

 

-

 

Kuroko awoke with a gasp, sitting up as his eyes immediately surveyed his surroundings. He was in the master bedroom. Akashi’s bedroom. His mind was running wild, the memories from earlier flooding his mind. Kuroko looked to the window, it was still dark. Checking the time, Kuroko concluded that he had only been asleep for a little over an hour. Lucky, he thought.

He moved to leave the bed, but his arm felt heavier than normal. It was wrapped in a thick cast.

“He… broke my wrist…” Kuroko muttered.

There was a note on the bedside table, it was in messy scrawl advising Kuroko to take the painkillers next to the note, from Doctor Midorima. Kuroko smiled bitterly.

He ignored the note and the painkillers but drank the water anyway. He leapt out of bed and made his way to the door, he still had time to meet Aomine before Akashi got to him. Kuroko turned the handle, only to walk into the door. It was locked.

Kuroko cursed under his breath, he turned towards the window and tried it. It was also locked.

“Fuck!” he shouted, irritation and panic coursing through him.

He lifted his hand to run it through his hair, knocking the cast against his forehead roughly. He swore, gripping his forehead in pain.

Suddenly, Kuroko’s eyes widened. He ran to the closest chest of drawers and picked out the first piece of clothing, wrapping it hastily around his hand. He made sure his phone and wallet were in his pocket, before returning to the window. He took a deep breath, then lifted his cast-covered broken wrist up, before smashing it into the window, breaking it. He continued to break off every piece, until the hole was big enough and mildly safe enough for Kuroko to climb through.

A knock sounded at the door to the room, and Kuroko whipped his head around in panic, before hurriedly crawling out the window, and onto the roof of the large mansion. He quickly unwrapped the fabric from his hand, it had done its duty of protecting Kuroko’s fingers from the glass, and tossed it back into the room, before beginning to crawl away from the window.

“Kuroko! Kuroko…? Kuroko!! Where are you!!” a voice yelled, Kuroko recognised it to be Takao, Doctor Midorima’s assistant.

Kuroko crawled along the tiles, carefully enough to not slip, but quick enough that he wouldn’t be caught. He noticed a pipe attached precariously to the side of the building. Kuroko would be light enough to slide down it, then he would be at the front of the building.

“Kuroko, get back here!” Takao yelled, climbing out the window after Kuroko. Kuroko crawled faster, his heart racing. Takao stood before he gave chase, closing in on him quicker than before.

Kuroko slid his body over the roof’s edge, dangling himself over the edge as he tried to locate the pipe with his feet. He locked his legs around it tightly, allowing himself to let go of the roof slowly, gripping onto the pipe, just as Takao reached him.

“Sorry, Takao-kun, I can’t allow Akashi-kun to hurt my friends.”

Takao looked concerned and uncertain, but he didn’t attempt to follow Kuroko any further. Kuroko nodded his thanks to Takao, before sliding down the pipe, pushing off once he was close enough to the ground, stumbling on his landing.

He ran until he reached the streets, realising that he would either have to hail a taxi, or run to his destination. He decided to run, a taxi would take too long. Unreliable.

Kuroko ran out of breath quickly, he had barely covered 600 meters before he was throwing himself into a bush to vomit out his lunch. He felt tears pool in his eyes, he felt like a failure. He stood, light-headed, and wandered to the side, out of the way of people walking past. Entering an alleyway, he slid down a wall, falling flat on his bottom. He was tired, he just needed a _minute_ to catch his breath. The boy allowed his eyes to flutter closed, heaving heavy breaths as he steadied his breathing.

“You alright, kid?” a voice asked.

Kuroko looked up to see a man of tall stature leaning over him. He had slightly wavy, shaggy, bright blond hair, along with radiant green eyes. The man was obviously a foreigner, but his Japanese was very well spoken, perhaps he lived in Japan?

“Ah, yes. Thank you, I am okay now.”

The man didn’t reply, he crouched down next to Kuroko, leaning in a little too close. Kuroko felt uncomfortable, he could feel the strange man’s breath on his face.

“I found you, Kuroko-kun,” Kuroko felt confused. This stranger somehow knew his name. Kuroko frowned, “What do you mean—” he was cut off as he felt a sharp prick in his neck, a needle, then a large hand clapping over his mouth, stopping him from screaming.

Kuroko struggled, but he was slowly losing his strength, whatever was in the needle was slowing down his mind, he suddenly felt so tired.

“Akashi…kun… please…”

He couldn’t think. He felt himself be lifted by four strong arms, and something wrap around his head before he was roughly dropped to the ground. Kuroko let out a sound of agony as his back made contact with the alley floor. It was slightly damp.

Deep grunting and bodies crashing together was all that Kuroko could hear, his mind was fuzzy, he couldn’t piece together what in the world was happening around him.

“The Emperor,” a voice called, it sounded breathless, “I finally meet you in person…It is… An honour.”

Kuroko recognised the voice as the blond stranger who had known his name. Why was he breathless? Wait, the Emperor? Where did he know that name from…?

“A… Akashi-kun?” the boy croaked weakly from the ground, “is that you?”

No reply. Kuroko attempted to open his eyes, his eyes stung but he allowed them to flutter open anyway. His glasses must have gone missing, everything was fuzzy.

It was blurry, but Kuroko could make out the shapes of two figures—one small and one a lot taller, both fighting swiftly. After bursts of fighting, they would speak, but Kuroko couldn’t make out what they were saying.

There was a reflection off a sharp-looking object, then a grunt of pain.

“Nash-sama! Get out of there,” a new voice instructed, “I’ll face him while you escape.”

The blurry blond figure quickly limped away as another equally tall figure replaced it, and the swift fighting continued.

After a short while, a shrill shriek sounded, followed by the taller figure dropping to the floor, limp. Kuroko looked away, hoping that the person was only unconscious. But, judging by the red substance flowing towards Kuroko, he was out of luck.

The shorter figure stood victorious over the dead, he kicked it roughly before muttering a low “Pathetic.”

Kuroko laid back, squeezing his eyes shut tightly. Footsteps came closer towards Kuroko, but he stayed still.

Aomine. He needed to save Aomine.

“I need to save Aomine… Akashi’s going to do something…”

The voice chuckled. It wasn’t one of joy.

“Tetsuya, my love.” So, it _was_ Akashi.

“Akashi-kun… Did you kill him, the man?” Kuroko asked, unmoving.

“I did.”

The boy sighed, soon someone would discover the body. Kuroko didn’t want to be present when that happened.

“Jason was on my hit-list anyway,” he started, Kuroko opened his eyes in time to watch Akashi’s face morph from pleased to livid, “How dare he touch you with his filthy hands, how dare he deem himself worthy of speaking to someone of your status. Fucking disgusting. Lucky that I am here to exterminate the **filth** of this world. I would do anything for you, little blue,” he spoke, slowly leaning down in front of Kuroko. He seemed to not notice he was kneeling in a puddle of his victim’s blood. Maybe he didn’t care. Maybe he was desensitised.

He continued, “Because you are my world, my one and only, my Empress. And an Empress deserves a worthy Emperor. I am your Emperor, you require none other than I.”

Akashi smiled, his eyes wide. Akashi had never seemed more like he had lost his mind, with blurred splatters of red decorating his face and chest along with the large knife he was gripping.

“Have you seen my glasses? My eyes hurt…”

Akashi dropped his knife, face shifting to a soft frown. He immediately turned around in search of Kuroko’s glasses. After some shuffling around and some light humming, Kuroko assumed Akashi had found them at the soft “Ah!”

Kuroko flinched as the frames were pushed onto his face, but he was grateful to be able to see again. Akashi seemed calmer now, less unpredictable.

“That’s better, isn’t it?” Akashi muttered rhetorically.

“I suppose,” Kuroko answered anyway, “Did you hurt my friends?” he inquired, “Are you back to normal, Akashi-kun?”

Akashi hummed, and began to lift Kuroko up onto his feet, before lifting him over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold, “I shall answer your questions in further detail once we are out of danger, but I will tell you that I didn’t allow my other self to hurt your precious friends. Yes, I have another self, as I said before, I will explain in full detail at a later date. Your friends are safe, but I wouldn’t attempt to lie to us again, I wouldn’t want this to become a reoccurring event.”

Kuroko sighed in relief, glad that none of his friends were faced with Akashi’s wrath. He nodded, too tired to ask for more information.

“Rest my love, it seems we—I’ve put you through a lot. I sincerely apologise for hurting you, and for scaring you… It’s truly unforgiveable.”

Kuroko chose not to reply, he couldn’t think straight. Kuroko fell mercy to the sleeping drug he was injected by the stranger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that wasn't too shocking to read? 
> 
> To answer a question that I think may come up:  
> Q: Akashi said he wouldn't hurt Kuroko, so why did he?  
> A: Well, Akashi says that because he was certain that he could control himself and his "other self" , and that he wouldn't need to hurt Kuroko. As we can see, Kuroko defies Akashi, and Akashi's other self fights back. Akashi's other self decides to act for himself, as to not lose Kuroko, because he thinks that the original Akashi isn't doing a good enough job.
> 
> If you have any more questions, please ask. I love talking to you all! Once again, please leave critique or queries, and have a good day/night. <3  
> (Next week's chapter will cover Akashi's POV of part of this chapter.)


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hfphhhh please don't kill me, I might of forgotten to update yesterday due to some family drama :,) My apologies.  
> *Violently gestures towards relevant tags* TAGS! Other than that, please enjoy!

“Make it quick, Kazunari, I’m busy.”

Takao’s breaths were loud and uneven. Wind blew into the receiver, making it difficult for Akashi to hear Takao over its loud crackling.

“It’s Kuroko, he escaped.”

Akashi chuckled. “No matter, he’ll be too late to stop me now.”

It was true. Akashi had only arrived at Kuroko’s friend, Aomine’s, house seconds before his phone rang. It was quite close to the mansion, only a 15-minute walk.

“No, sir. That’s not all! Mayuzumi was following Nash and he’s near the mansion. At this rate, Nash will have Kuroko.”

Akashi was already running back towards the mansion, cursing his luck. Sliding his phone back into his pocket, he sped around corners, narrowly avoiding surprised pedestrians. Sweat beaded down his forehead, his mind detailing scenario after scenario in his mind. Scenes where Nash stole Kuroko then defiled him. Scenes where he killed Kuroko on the spot.

Scenes where he tortured him, made him scream and cry and beg with no hope left and Akashi couldn’t do anything.

Taking a moment to open the screen of the tracker that Akashi had implanted into Kuroko’s phone, Akashi grinned, Kuroko was only around the corner.

Akashi followed the blue dot showing Kuroko’s whereabouts. He slowed to a stop beside the entrance to the alleyway. Of course they were in an alleyway. He could hear the struggle, the rustle of clothes and muffled protests.

Akashi didn’t want to turn the corner and see his beloved like that. He really didn’t want to see it, but there was no way that Akashi would allow Kuroko to go through the trauma of being taken by Nash. Akashi turned the corner, “Akashi…kun… please…” a faint, slurred voice called out, amongst the sound of grunts and chuckling.

He rushed into the scene, removing the filthy hands of the scum that was touching **_his jewel_**. He cringed at the grunt that Tetsuya made as he hit the ground, but he didn’t have time to stop and check him. That would have to come later.

There were several men that Akashi didn’t recognise. But, there were two that he did, regrettably, know.

Akashi took a moment, only a split second in reality, to survey his surroundings. Three large and buff men surrounded him, closing in, while two others lingered around the sides. He would keep a watchful eye on them for now.

Akashi dropped to the floor, sweeping his leg around as he made contact with the shin of one of the brutes who had charged towards him. Akashi fell back onto his palms, kicking the fallen enemy into another, effectively taking them both out. He rolled backwards, pushing himself up elegantly, before facing the last man. He looked uglier than the rest. Ugly threw a punch towards Akashi, in which he dodged deftly, before rolling into Ugly's personal space, elbowing him in the stomach. While he was bent over, cradling his stomach, Akashi dug his knee into Ugly’s nose at full force. A sickening crunch resounded throughout the alleyway. He pulled his knee away and admired the blood that covered his slacks.

Akashi felt as if he was on cloud nine! He had missed it, even craved it, fighting stupid thugs and feeling that _sweet bliss_. A smirk rose to Akashi’s face, it was foul with dark intentions. He strolled forward, before slamming his foot into the face of the man who had been trying to return to the fight. The man shouted, desperately trying to lift Akashi’s foot from his face.

“What a pathetic attempt… I suppose I was mistaken when I thought you’d at least try to best me.”

“The Emperor,” breathed the man that Akashi couldn’t _wait_ to punish, “I finally meet you in person…It is… an honour.”

Akashi took his eyes away from the face of the guy on the floor, continuing to grind his foot painfully into the thug.

Jason Silver, and Nash Gold Jr.

“Too bad that I don’t feel the same, Gold.”

Akashi turned to face the two now.

“Now, why don’t you fill me in on why you were attempting to steal away **_my_** lover, hm?”

Nash didn’t speak, only began to run in towards Akashi.

“A… Akashi-kun?” Kuroko croaked weakly from the ground, “is that you?”

Akashi couldn’t reply, he had to concentrate. Nash was a formidable opponent, he had to keep all his attention on the blond, but that didn’t mean that Akashi would play fair.

Akashi dodged the attacks flying towards him before breaking away for long enough to grasp his knife from where it was sheathed on his lower back. Nash was none the wiser, he chased after Akashi like the idiot he was. Not thinking before attacking.

Formidable… Perhaps not.

Akashi revealed the knife slowly, admiring the way it glinted against the light from the street. Nash face morphed into a surprised expression, but it was too late for him to retreat now, he had already charged in, he was too close to Akashi. With one swift swipe, blood was pouring from the deep wound opened in Nash’s cheek.

Nash hissed in pain, wiping off the blood off his face with the back of his hand, a feral smirk overcoming his wince.

“Not playing fair, are you Emperor-kun,” he breathed, red liquid colouring his teeth darkly. He spat out the pool of blood that had formed in his mouth, it seemed that the cut had pierced through his cheek. He looked Akashi in the eye, and Akashi narrowed his own.

“How dare you face me, looking so disgusting. Know your place.”

Nash’s eyes widened, before he glared. He bent his knees in an offensive stance, before attempting to strike Akashi with his full force. Akashi evaded the punch with a spin, before closing in and delivering one final stab in the stomach. Nash gasped, falling to his knees.

“Nash-sama! Get out of there,” Jason shouted, “I’ll face him while you escape!”

Akashi wrenched the knife from Nash’s gut, before kicking him to the ground, chuckling at the pathetic groan Nash let out.

“What a pitiful attempt, it’s almost laughable!”

Nash crawled away, and Jason replaced him.

“Oh? You’re sending in your little sidekick now? Know this now, if you oppose me, I _will_ kill you,” Akashi warned. He was being truthful, only doing the two a favour!

“You won’t knock me down like you did to Nash-sama. I will defend his honour,” Jason countered.

“Is that so? I do hope you keep true to that promise.”

It took three minutes at the most to have Jason on the floor, his knife to Jason’s throat, his blood mixing with Nash’s.

“Beg me for forgiveness, scum, and I may consider sparing you.”

Jason heaved hard, his face shoved roughly into the asphalt. He spat, managing to land it on Akashi’s shoe.

His eyes darkened, before he shoved his fingers through the piercings that covered his ear and yanked them out. He felt as if he was high, Jason’s pained screech was music to his ears.

“I’ll give one last chance. Beg me for my forgiveness.”

Jason grunted as Akashi pushed the knife into his throat further, blood pooling to the surface. Jason struggled to speak, but Akashi didn’t relent.

He spoke, his voice harsh and low, “Fuck you.”

Akashi chuckled, it bubbled up to his throat and he couldn’t control it. He pushed his face into Jason’s neck before speaking, slow and dangerously, “I am so glad you said that.”

Akashi wrenched the knife up, the sharp blade slicing through Jason’s throat so perfectly...

When Akashi looked up, Nash was nowhere to be seen, and his Tetsuya was staring forwards with a look of confusion. His eyes furrowed, mumbling to himself.

“I need to save Aomine… Akashi’s going to do something…”

Akashi chuckled, it wasn’t joyful.

“Tetsuya, my love,” he spoke.

“Akashi-kun… Did you kill him, the man?” Tetsuya asked softly, shutting his eyes.

“I did.”

Tetsuya sighed.

“Jason was on my hit-list anyway. How dare he touch you with his filthy hands, how dare he deem himself worthy of speaking to someone like you. Fucking disgusting. Lucky that I’m here to exterminate the **filth** of this world. I would do anything for you, little blue,” said Akashi, his face morphing from pleased to livid.

Akashi continued, “Because, you are my world, my one and only, my Empress. And an Empress deserves a worthy Emperor. I am your Emperor, you require none other than I.”

Akashi smiled, his eyes wide.

“Have you seen my glasses? My eyes hurt…”

Akashi dropped his knife, face shifting to a soft frown. He immediately turned around in search of Kuroko’s glasses. He shuffled around, paying no mind to the blood soaking his knees. He found them, muttering an “Ah!”

Tetsuya flinched as the frames were pushed onto his face.

“That’s better, isn’t it?” Akashi muttered rhetorically.

“I suppose,” Tetsuya answered anyway, “Did you hurt my friends?” he inquired, “Are you back to normal, Akashi-kun?”

Akashi hummed, and began to lift Kuroko up onto his feet, before lifting him over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold, “I shall answer your questions in further detail once we are out of danger, but I will tell you that I didn’t allow my other self to hurt your precious friends. Yes, I have another self, as I said before, I will explain in full detail at a later date. Your friends are safe, but I wouldn’t attempt to lie to us again, I wouldn’t want this to become a reoccurring event.”

Tetsuya sighed in relief, and Akashi smiled at the cute noise.

“Rest my love, it seems we—I’ve put you through a lot. I sincerely apologise for hurting you, and for scaring you… It’s truly unforgiveable.”

Tetsuya did not reply, he only fell limp over his shoulder. He had fallen mercy to the sleeping drug.

 

Akashi phoned Kise, needing a clean-up crew and a ride home. And a change of clothes.

Akashi’s crew did their job well, making sure to clean up any trace of Akashi or Tetsuya being there, but left the bodies as they were. The Emperor’s mark was left on show, clear for any eyes to see.

In the car, Akashi rested Kuroko’s head upon his shoulder. It felt so right to have him there, resting peacefully on his shoulder.

“My Tetsuya. My angel. My Jewel.”

Akashi picked up his phone from his pocket, dialling Shintarou. He made sure that Shintarou would be at the mansion when they got there, ready to check Tetsuya for any harm.

By the time they had gotten back to the mansion, Akashi was exhausted. Tetsuya hadn’t woken up yet which was worrying, but his pulse was strong, so Akashi tried not to fret.

Upon arriving, Akashi scooped Tetsuya out of the backseat bridal style, carrying up to where Shintarou awaited them. Shintarou checked him thoroughly, but he was unharmed, and drug was only a sleeping drug. Tetsuya would be fine.

Continuing up the stairs, Akashi made his way to the bathroom, placing Kuroko on a seat just outside. He ran a bath, bubbles and all. He shrugged off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves, toeing off his shoes in the process.

Akashi fetched Kuroko, stripping him swiftly, before gently placing him inside the warm water. Kuroko sighed, yawning and blinking his eyes open.

Akashi didn’t attempt to start a conversation, he only began wetting Kuroko’s hair, making sure to not get any in his eyes. He pumped a considerable amount of shampoo into his palm, before beginning to massage it into Kuroko’s hair. Kuroko slid further under the water but made sure to give Akashi access to his hair.

After a few minutes the water was stained pink, but it continued to smell of the lavender body wash that Akashi had squeezed in earlier.

Rinsing Kuroko’s hair of the conditioner he had rubbed in, he began lathering Kurokos neck and shoulders with body wash, reaching in to grasp his arms as well, making sure each part of Kuroko’s body was free of filth.

He scrubbed Kuroko’s legs, but he didn’t seem to be paying attention to anything. Akashi would have been convinced that Kuroko was asleep if it hadn’t been for him keeping his body upright and pushing his hair out of his face every so often.

Akashi reached in the tub and pulled the plug, wrapping Kuroko’s shoulders with a larger fluffy towel. He helped Kuroko to stand, pulling him from out of the tub, and began thoroughly drying him.

He left briefly to collect some clothes for Kuroko, returning swiftly. He dressed Kuroko in some comfortable pyjamas then carried him to his room. Akashi tucked Kuroko in, leaning in hesitantly. He stopped himself. Then he continued, giving Kuroko a gentle kiss to the temple.

“Sweet dreams, my love.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've never really written a fight scene before, so I apologies for its roughness? Please comment!! T_T I crave attention.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies for being a day late, I was having trouble writing parts of this chapter.  
> I want to thank @noblelilium for helping me with this chapter and giving me inspiration!! They also beta'd me, and I am extremely thankful for their kindness!  
> I would like to bring attention to a Zine that I want to promote. It is a KNB X FREE! fanzine, and preorders start Tuesday!! It's not getting much attention, so please give it a look, you can find it on tumblr at this link: https://knbfreezine.tumblr.com  
> Enjoy!

“Sweet dreams, my love.”

The door closed with a soft noise, then Kuroko was alone.

It was late, the room was lit by the minimal light provided by the moon shining through the curtains. Tears rose to his eyes and he tried to concentrate on anything other than what had taken place in the alleyway that night. He smelt of lavender, though it wasn’t too strong, just enough to be pleasant. He noticed that his hair seemed fluffier than usual. Kuroko felt warm and his clothes were freshly washed and dried. Soft to the touch.

Kuroko closed his eyes as he placed his glasses onto the bedside table. He was alone, he tried to convince himself. He was alone, no one was lurking in the dark.

Soon the feeling of dread became too much, it overwhelmed him and he had to open his eyes. He gasped as he surveyed the room with wide eyes. His chest of drawers was untouched, his door was closed, and there were no suspicious shadows hiding in the closet.

Kuroko brought his gaze to his sheets. He sat up against the headboard with legs crossed.

There was a heavy pit in his stomach; it was filled to the brim, overflowing with dread, fear, and paranoia.

He had witnessed someone lose their life.

It didn’t matter that Jason was a terrible person who had probably committed more than enough major crimes to warrant capital punishment. All that mattered was that Jason was a person. A human being that Kuroko had watched die.

Kuroko brought his hand to his mouth, breathing deeply, trying to stop the feeling of nausea that had washed over him.

Jason had tried to kidnap Kuroko. If he and Nash had succeeded in their plans, who knew what would have happened to Kuroko? Maybe Kuroko would have been tortured until he gave up all of the information he knew about the Emperor. Perhaps they would have just killed him. Or used him as leverage against Akashi. God only knew.

Kuroko didn’t fully agree or disagree with Akashi’s methods. Although Kuroko was grateful that Jason and Nash didn’t succeed in kidnapping him, Kuroko wished that Akashi hadn’t outright… murdered someone.

‘What was Akashi supposed to do instead?’ his brain reasoned.

Kuroko didn’t have the answer to that. Unless Akashi had evidence of Nash and Jason’s crimes, or evidence of the non-consensual drug use and attempted kidnapping, then the police couldn’t have done anything.

What did Akashi say the police were in these situations… inadequate?

No. He couldn’t think this way. He wouldn’t allow himself. It was insane! Akashi, better than the police? Never.

Kuroko shook his head, rubbing at his burning eyes. He laid down, making himself comfortable in the bed.

 

That night, Kuroko relived what had happened in the alleyway. But this time, it wasn’t Kuroko seeing without his glasses. This time, it was vivid, every colour magnified, every noise on maximum volume and Kuroko had a front-row seat.

Red had never been such a vibrant colour.

 

“Good morning, my love.”

Akashi was in Kuroko’s room, but Kuroko didn’t want to see him. He needed to be alone. To think.

“Tetsuya, are you alright?”

Kuroko continued to stare at the ceiling. It was more interesting than he last recalled, with patterns he hadn’t noticed before.

“Breakfast is downstairs, would you like to join me?”

The patterns were intricate, with no large amount of space uncovered.

“I can bring it up to you if that’s what you desire?”

Kuroko did not respond, he only continued to stare apathetically. Akashi left, returning with a small portion of toast and soup carefully placed on a tray. The tray was left on the desk, as Kuroko had made no move to take the tray from Akashi when he had approached him.

Once Akashi had left, Kuroko shuffled towards the food. He wasn’t hungry, the food seemed off-putting for some reason. He took a bite of the toast, and a sip of the soup before returning to the bed.

That was all Kuroko ate that day.

 

Kuroko felt angry. Angry that he had to be present that night. Why him? What was so special about him that Akashi had to fall for him in the first place? Why couldn’t Akashi have fallen for Furihata, or someone that was not directly in Kuroko’s life, so that he didn’t have to be the one to witness the horrific events that took place that night.

“Why me…”

 

“Tetsuya, join me. We can take out Nash together. Murder him like I did Jason.”

This dream kept recurring that night. Images of Akashi wanting Kuroko to join him, to murder people like some Serial Killer Club. It made Kuroko feel uneasy.

The dreams were accompanied by flashes of blood, of violence and of Akashi’s smiling face. The smile… almost made the dream bearable.

 

Kuroko spent the day writing. He wrote and wrote and didn’t stop until his hand cramped and he had to take a break and massage it.

Akashi periodically checked in on him, but Kuroko refused to speak. He wanted to his mind clear when he spoke to Akashi again.

He wrote many things. He wrote about what his dreams contained, his feelings about those dreams, the events that occurred that night.

Kuroko decided he wanted to figure out what feelings that night had brought to the surface. How he felt about that night and everything that happened.

The answer was something that Kuroko already knew but refused to accept.

 

It was difficult for Kuroko to sleep that night, because he knew the way he was thinking was wrong.

Maybe Akashi was in the right, his mind would supply. Maybe Akashi was doing the wrong thing in the eyes of the law, but the right thing morally?

His sleep that night was dreamless.

 

“Tetsuya, please, talk to me...”

No response.

“Please. Tetsuya, I’ll do anything. Do you want something to eat? I’ll feed you if you wish?”

Nothing.

Akashi sighed, running his hands through his hair, before bringing them down to his eyes, rubbing them vigorously.

It’d been three days since Akashi lost his temper with Kuroko. Three days since Akashi forcibly broke Kuroko’s arm. Three days since Akashi threatened to murder Kuroko’s friends, and three days since Kuroko followed him.

Three whole days since Akashi brutally murdered Jason Silver in front of Kuroko’s innocent eyes.

And Kuroko hadn’t spoken to him since. He hadn’t spoken to anyone.

He stayed in his room, laid on the bed, unmoving and unresponsive. He hardly ate, and he barely slept.

Akashi was worried sick. He constantly checked in on Kuroko, bringing him water and meals that Kuroko would only pick at. He changed his clothes and brushed his hair. Kuroko was in need of another bath.

Kuroko’s skin was sickly pale, and his undereye bags weighed down heavily on his face. His eyes, dull in colour with an emotion that Akashi couldn’t describe. It was a mix between nothing and everything. His bottom lip was red and raw, swollen with visible bite marks, clearly the aftermath of stress.

Akashi hated it. With every fibre of his being, of his soul. Knowing that he was the one that had caused this. His love, once so happy, now so… dead inside.

He was still alive, but he wasn’t living.

Akashi crawled onto Kuroko’s bed, moving up until he sat on Kuroko’s thighs. Akashi gazed into Kuroko’s eyes, only for Kuroko to stare blankly…

“Tetsuya. I need to know what you’re thinking. Tell me what is going on in that mind of yours.”

Akashi moved forwards, resting his chin on Kuroko’s sternum. Gazing into those dead eyes, he asked once more.

“Please tell me what I can do to help. I want to help you. Make you feel better.”

Akashi pushed his face into Kuroko’s neck, kissing once, then twice.

“I can make you feel better…”

He pulled back before pecking Kuroko on the cheek. Kuroko showed minimal response. Akashi repeated the action but stayed longer that time, kissing Kuroko’s cheek gently, lovingly. He shuffled forwards, kissing all over Kuroko’s face as he gently cupped his cheeks. Kuroko’s face seemed to become sadder.

Akashi paused in his actions, hesitating, before moving in and fitting his lips with Kuroko’s. Akashi smiled into the kiss, it was a sad smile. He softly began moving his lips against Kuroko’s, eyes fluttering closed along with Kuroko’s.

It was all very chaste with only loving intentions.

Akashi pushed his hand through Kuroko’s hair, caressing it. Playing with the soft locks. Kuroko slowly kissed back, moving his lips against Akashi’s. Akashi gasped.

Suddenly, the kiss was salty. He opened his eyes to see tears running down Kuroko’s face.

“I… I’m so scared,” Kuroko whispered, voice cracking as emotion shone through, “I don’t know why I feel this way.”

Akashi nodded, urging Kuroko to continue. He swiped his thumb across Kuroko’s cheek, wiping away the tears.

“It all happened so fast. Akashi-kun, you killed someone. I was there. I witnessed you take someone’s life. But…”

Akashi sighed, “Tetsuya it’s not—”

“Akashi-kun, you don’t understand. The thing that I am most confused about is that… I’m not upset about his death. I know I should be. I mean, I should be traumatised. I should be yelling at you, screaming that you’re a murderer with no heart. But I know you, and that you do have a heart. I know your motives and why you do certain things. I… I think I sympathise with you.” Kuroko stared at the wall, his face showing confusion, fear and bewilderment.

Akashi’s eyes widened, all the air in his chest was forced from him, he visibly shook as shivers crawled up his spine.

“You… understand me?” Akashi whispered.

“I think so. I… I think I get that you’re not a horrible person, you just go about things in a way that most people would see as morally wrong. But I get it. You’re like a vigilante.”

 

 

-

 

Aomine rubbed his hands over his trousers nervously. He gazed to his left, Kagami didn’t seem any more composed than he was.

They were in the lobby of Akashi-Corp. They were waiting for their appointment with the boss himself.

They were going to expose this ‘Akashi’ guy, show him proof of his crimes and lock him up, freeing Kuroko of his torment.

…Not that they had any solid proof of Akashi being his kidnapper. But, they had their suspicions! Aomine would interrogate Akashi, and Kagami would keep him in check. They had a good cop, bad cop interrogation style going.

The clicking of dress shoes against the polished marble floors gained their attention. It was a male, dressed in a white button-up shirt, the sleeves rolled neatly up to the man’s elbows. His torso adorned with a grey waistcoat, matching some tight grey slacks. His tie was tucked into the waistcoat and his hair was bright blond.

“Aomine-san and Kagami-san, I assume?” The man asked.

Aomine nodded, “Kise. That’s your name, right?”

The man chuckled, “You are correct. If you’ll follow me, Akashicchi is a busy man, and between you and I, he hates to wait.”

Following Kise through the large building, through corridors and elevators, they finally made it to Akashi’s office.

A triple knock of Kise’s knuckles on the door preceded Akashi’s voice.

“Enter.”

Akashi was sat behind a large mahogany desk. He stood as the three entered.

“Ryouta, you may leave”.

“Yes, yes, I know,” Kise chided.

“No! We want to talk with him too,” Aomine shouted.

Akashi narrowed his eyes, “Very well.”

Kise closed the door before taking a seat beside the two.

“So, what can I do for you, detectives.”

Aomine glared, they hadn’t said anything about being detectives, or even police officers.

It was a large office. One side of the room at floor to ceiling windows, granting the room maximum light. The desk sat facing the door, with several chairs placed around the desk for visitors. A large brown leather couch sat opposite the windows, with a bookshelf next to the sofa. It was a cosy-looking atmosphere, but Aomine felt extremely uncomfortable. It wasn’t his first time interrogating someone, but he had always done it in a special interrogation room, where he held the most power. He was in Akashi’s territory, he had no power.

“We know you were the one to kidnap Kuroko,” Aomine blurted.

There was a silence before Akashi spoke up, confusion decorating his face.

“Who is Kuroko, and why do you think I have kidnapped him?”

Kise smiled, “Akashicchi, you can drop the act. I may have told Aominecchi here that my ‘boss’ kidnapped Kuroko. Since you’re the only who can order me around, it wouldn’t have been hard for them to deduce.”

Aomine nodded along with Kise’s words, even if it was news to him too.

“We know what you’ve done. We haven’t tipped in the police force yet about the kidnapping because we are willing to end this without causing a fuss. Give us our friend back, and we can forget this ever happened. But, if you refuse, it only takes us one phone call and you’re ruined,” Aomine leaned forward, face dark as he threatened Akashi.

Akashi stared at them, his mouth slowly quirking up at the corners. He left out a chuckle. Standing up, he wandered out from behind his desk, and moved in front of Aomine.

“You’re funny, you know that? Such an amateur.”

Akashi’s smile faded into a face of disinterest. He jerked towards Kagami, reaching into his pocket and retrieving a recording device.

“You are that idiotic that you think I wouldn’t know about this? And I really thought you would be more interesting than this. How boring.”

Akashi crushed the device in his hand, throwing it into a nearby trashcan.

“Tetsuya is the love of my life. He understands me… He knows why I do what I do. He… loves me. He doesn’t know it yet, but he loves me. I won’t let you take him away from me. If you try to take him, I will kill you.”

Kagami’s eyes widened, as did Aomine’s.

“You wouldn’t. You wouldn’t kill us for something like that.”

“Oh, I would. I have done so in the past, and I will do it again.”

“H-holy shit. Are you the Emperor!?”

Akashi clapped his hands together slowly, “Well done detective, I was beginning to think that it would never come through that thick skull of yours!”

Aomine stood, the chair underneath him falling from the force of his standing.

“You won’t get away with this. We will free Kuroko and bring you to justice.”

The doors behind the two slammed open, and two large security guards began to drag the two out of the room.

“Goodbye detectives, I don’t expect to see you here again.”

“You’ll regret this Akashi!” Kagami shouted as Aomine fought to rid himself of the guard’s hold, “We tried to do this the easy way!”

“I am the Emperor. No one can best me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!! It would mean the world to me if you could comment and tell me how you feel about this chapter? Much love, have a lovely New Year.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT

I will be going on a small holiday for a week with no cellphone reception and I definitely won’t have my laptop, so I won’t be able to update until next Sunday. My apologies!!!


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